Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Speak out: Parliamentary government By Ben Barabat Cebu
NOWHERE in the annals of our political history has the parliamentary form of government taken a place in our political system.
To embrace the dogma of a parliamentary form of government, to my mind, is baseless and uncalled for. The time is not yet ripe for the people of this country to speak or dwell on the essence of a parliamentary form of government.
Restructuring the framework of our political governance only does more harm than good to the whole gamut of the Filipino nation. It takes a lot of time and effort to effect change and to do so in our political history is tantamount to inviting a national upheaval.
For me, there is no substitute for the presidential form of government. Why change it when it is the sole type of government that is attuned and tailor-made to the ideals and aspirations of the Filipino people?
Why must we change it when, in the course of our nationhood, it has been the source of inspiration of our glorious heroes and great statesmen, who in their waking thoughts had labored so much so that this nation would ever have a politically stable and strong government under the aegis of freedom, equality and justice.
To me, then, the parliamentary form of government has no place within the realm of our political way of life. Such kind of government doesn’t truly reflect the cohesive sentiment of the Filipino people.
A parliament does not serve as the people’s legislature because such kind of legislative body is endemic only in European countries, like Great Britain and France, whereby the reigning monarchs wield political dominance over the members of the legislative body.
By and large, we, the sovereign Filipino people, would forever stand firm and resolve that there is no substitute for a presidential form of government.
