Senator Miriam Santiago is seriously pursuing Charter change to shift to federal-parliamentary system of government. She held public hearings today at the Senate by inviting six constitutional law experts to deliver lectures on charter change. Common opinion of the speakers are ” yes there is a need for charter change. a parliamentary form of govt will be more responsive to our needs”.
The senator said will file a resolution “very soon” calling for a constitutional convention, one of various ways to amend or revise the Constitution.
Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno proposed a shift to a federal-parliamentary government with a unicameral legislature, and the creation of a constitutional court separate from the Supreme Court.
“A unitary government is not suited to a country of so many islands, so many cultures, and so many dialects,” Puno said.
He said shifting to federalism would help achieve peace in Mindanao where a Muslim separatist insurgency has been going on for decades.
Puno also said that the current presidential system gives too much power to the President, a setup that might render the system of checks and balances ineffective. Thus, he believes the country needs to adopt the parliamentary system.
“This imbalance of power is also a contributing factor to the lack of ideological growth of our political parties,” Puno added. “The result is that our government becomes personality-oriented instead of being party-directed.”
Former Associate Justice Florentino Feliciano seems wary against rash moves to amend the Constitution. “Constitutions are meant to serve structural purposes, not operating purposes, and they seek enduring goals. Only changes of the most compelling need or stark requirements of survival should be considered,” he said.
In Twitter, one noted that “there is no perfect charter, the country has been ruled by the ”mapagsamantala’ who succeeded creating a nation of weaklings”. Another tweet said ” shifting to parliamentary won’t work. we love to vote for our presidents directly. it’s our culture.” A Facebook user added that he “had dinner with friends last night and we agreed to support charter change so we can declare P-Noy King and have a competent Prime Minister to run the day to day affairs of government. if we had that system during Erap’s time, we wouldn’t have had to endure a decade of ate glue.”
I am still studying the benefits of the shift to a federal-parliamentary government. What do you think?
About The Author
Noemi Lardizabal-Dado
Noemi Lardizabal-Dado is a Content Strategist with over 16 years experience in blogging, content management, citizen advocacy and media literacy and over 26 years in web development. Otherwise known as @MomBlogger on social media, she believes in making a difference in the lives of her children by advocating social change for social good.
She is a co-founder and a member of the editorial board of Blog Watch . She is a resource speaker on media literacy, social media , blogging, digital citizenship, good governance, transparency, parenting, women’s rights and wellness, and cyber safety.
Her personal blogs such as aboutmyrecovery.com (parenting) , pinoyfoodblog.com (recipes), techiegadgets.com (gadgets) and benguetarabica.coffee keep her busy outside of Blog Watch.
Disclosure:
I am an advocate. I am NOT neutral. I will NOT give social media mileage to members of political clans, epal, a previous candidate for the same position and those I believe are a waste of taxpayers' money.
I do not support or belong to any political party. I was part of accredited media covering the Office of the Vice President and Leni Robredo as she ran as a presidential aspirant in the 2022 National and local elections.
On August 5, 2021, YouTube announced that I was selected as one of 50 Program participants of its Creator Program for Independent Journalists
She was a Senior Consultant for ALL media engagements for the PCOO-led Committee on Media Affairs & Strategic Communications (CMASC) under the ASEAN 2017 National Organizing Council from January 4 -July 5, 2017. Having been an ASEAN advocate since 2011, she has written extensively about the benefits of the ASEAN community and as a region of opportunities on Blog Watch and aboutmyrecovery.com.
Organization affiliation includes Consortium on Democracy and Disinformation
Updated June 6, 2022
Charter change: A shift to federal-parliamentary government?
Senator Miriam Santiago is seriously pursuing Charter change to shift to federal-parliamentary system of government. She held public hearings today at the Senate by inviting six constitutional law experts to deliver lectures on charter change. Common opinion of the speakers are ” yes there is a need for charter change. a parliamentary form of govt will be more responsive to our needs”.
The senator said will file a resolution “very soon” calling for a constitutional convention, one of various ways to amend or revise the Constitution.
Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno proposed a shift to a federal-parliamentary government with a unicameral legislature, and the creation of a constitutional court separate from the Supreme Court.
Former Associate Justice Florentino Feliciano seems wary against rash moves to amend the Constitution. “Constitutions are meant to serve structural purposes, not operating purposes, and they seek enduring goals. Only changes of the most compelling need or stark requirements of survival should be considered,” he said.
In Twitter, one noted that “there is no perfect charter, the country has been ruled by the ”mapagsamantala’ who succeeded creating a nation of weaklings”. Another tweet said ” shifting to parliamentary won’t work. we love to vote for our presidents directly. it’s our culture.” A Facebook user added that he “had dinner with friends last night and we agreed to support charter change so we can declare P-Noy King and have a competent Prime Minister to run the day to day affairs of government. if we had that system during Erap’s time, we wouldn’t have had to endure a decade of ate glue.”
I am still studying the benefits of the shift to a federal-parliamentary government. What do you think?
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About The Author
Noemi Lardizabal-Dado
Noemi Lardizabal-Dado is a Content Strategist with over 16 years experience in blogging, content management, citizen advocacy and media literacy and over 26 years in web development. Otherwise known as @MomBlogger on social media, she believes in making a difference in the lives of her children by advocating social change for social good. She is a co-founder and a member of the editorial board of Blog Watch . She is a resource speaker on media literacy, social media , blogging, digital citizenship, good governance, transparency, parenting, women’s rights and wellness, and cyber safety. Her personal blogs such as aboutmyrecovery.com (parenting) , pinoyfoodblog.com (recipes), techiegadgets.com (gadgets) and benguetarabica.coffee keep her busy outside of Blog Watch. Disclosure: I am an advocate. I am NOT neutral. I will NOT give social media mileage to members of political clans, epal, a previous candidate for the same position and those I believe are a waste of taxpayers' money. I do not support or belong to any political party. I was part of accredited media covering the Office of the Vice President and Leni Robredo as she ran as a presidential aspirant in the 2022 National and local elections. On August 5, 2021, YouTube announced that I was selected as one of 50 Program participants of its Creator Program for Independent Journalists She was a Senior Consultant for ALL media engagements for the PCOO-led Committee on Media Affairs & Strategic Communications (CMASC) under the ASEAN 2017 National Organizing Council from January 4 -July 5, 2017. Having been an ASEAN advocate since 2011, she has written extensively about the benefits of the ASEAN community and as a region of opportunities on Blog Watch and aboutmyrecovery.com. Organization affiliation includes Consortium on Democracy and Disinformation Updated June 6, 2022