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Friday, October 10, 2003
Valdehuesa: Parliament-in-waiting
By Manuel E. Valdehuesa Jr.
COMMENTARY
Readers may find it novel or downright weird when I refer to the Barangay Assembly as a parliament. Nowhere does the word “parliament” appear in the Local Government Code. The term is heard only from cha-cha promoters. They want a parliamentary government, kuno.
But in fact the Barangay Assembly is a parliament, which is defined as a legislative governing body. That’s what the Barangay Assembly is supposed to be.
It can initiate legislation, raise or debate issues, adopt resolutions, or question the acts of officials. It can even discipline through the power of initiative, referendum or recall. No need to wait till regular elections. These are the powers of a parliament.
The neglect of the Barangay Assembly has prevented Filipinos from participating in the democratic process except to vote every few years. And it prevented the political system from attaining stability. Stability grows out of consensus and unity.
No consensus can develop unless people can address issues and resolve them as a community, not just as interest or tribal groups. The absence of consensus keeps the community fragmented.
In creating the Barangay Assembly and in institutionalizing the barangay as a full-fledged government with corporate powers, Congress redesigned the political structure and improved its symmetry.
The passage of Republic Act 7160 gave the community a system different from the upper levels: direct democracy with a parliamentary government.
In the community, the people govern themselves, or are supposed to. They do this through a local parliament—the Barangay Assembly.
No need for representatives or proxies to speak or act in their behalf except in between sessions. It’s the same as the direct democracy of the Israeli kibbutz or the Swiss canton.
Every adult resident is a member of this assembly. It is an all-inclusive community parliament. It is where the process of direct democracy is supposed to take place, the venue for working out a consensus.
This is where the entire community can address public issues in an orderly manner guided by parliamentary rules of order. This is the essential role of a parliament. And it is the essential role of the Barangay Assembly.
Is anyone surprised why there is no unity, political will or stability hereabouts?
(Manny Valdehuesa writes for Sun.Star Cagayan)
(October 10, 2003 issue)
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