unitary vs federal presidential vs parlimentary
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Charter ChangeTheBurning Issues
By: Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas, S.J.
Forum on Charter Change: CHACHA for what and for whom?
Organized by: PASCRES, C4CC,PHILCOS and AKBAYAN
27 April 2006, Institute of Social Order, Ateneo de Manila University
Two Kinds of Change
✏ Amendment✏ Revision
Three agents of Change
✏ Constitutional Convention✏ Congress✏ Initiative and Referendum
✏ (I shall come back to these)
The Controverted Issues
✏ Should we move from “presidential” to “parliamentary”?✏ Should we move from bicameral to unicameral?✏ If so, how is it to be achieved?✏ Shelved for the moment: Federalism
The Forms Being Proposed
✏ As gathered from current drafts being considered
Parliamentary v Presidential
Two Ways of Horizontal Sharing Power
Presidential
✏ Division of powers among of President, Congress and Courts✏ Theoretically equal but President is dominant
✏ Fixed term✏ Elected at large
✏ We have had it since turn of the century
Parliamentary System
✏ Supremacy of an elected Parliament✏ Members elected by Districts✏ Elects Prime Minister✏ All or most of Cabinet are Members✏ May recommend removal of Prime Minister
Main Actors
✏ The Parliament✏ The Prime Minister✏ The Cabinet✏ The President
The Parliament
✏ Membership✏ Term of Members✏ Qualifications✏ Disqualifications✏ Unicameral or Bicameral
Role of Parliament
✏ Makes laws; overrides veto✏ Chooses/fires Prime Minister✏ Chooses Cabinet✏ Judge of Impeachment✏ Forms Electoral Tribunal, Commission on Impeachment,
Commission on Appointments
Rules of Procedure
✏ Same as now
The Prime Minister
✏ How chosen✏ Qualifications✏ Term
The NoConfidence Vote
✏ Grounds✏ Procedure✏ The Prime Minister’s Response
Powers of Prime Minister
✏ He is Chief Executive with same Powers as President now✏ May veto bills✏ Appoints and heads Cabinet✏ Accountable to parliament✏ Representative to international orgs
The Cabinet
✏ Appointed by resident✏ Assists the President
The President
✏ Qualifications✏ Head of government✏ Largely ceremonial
Role of Political Parties
✏ Decides party leadership✏ Majority party decides head of government✏ Minority party “fiscalizes”
Advantages of Parliamentarism
✏ Avoids gridlock between legislature and executive✏ Easier to change head of government✏ NOTE: Parliamentarism requires a working political party
system.
Vertical Division of Power
✏ Unitary: Central government holds all✏ Federal: Power divided between central and local
governments✏ Confederation: Agreement for specific tasks. E.g., EU
Traditional Unitarism
✏ Power concentrated in central gov’t✏ We had this until 1987
✏ Local governments only had delegated powers✏ Therefore removable by central gov’t
Mitigated Unitarism: 1987
✏ Limited constitutional empowerment of local governments✏ Encouragement of local autonomy✏ Two Autonomous regions authorized✏ Power of local taxation
Federalism in general
✏ What is federalism?✏ Vertical sharing of power.
✏ What basic principle underlies federalism?✏ Subsidiarity
Who exercises what?
✏ Federal: interstate relations, matters national in scope, foreign relations:
✏ CONCRETELY: defense, foreign affairs, currency, customs, federal budget and taxes,immigration, citizenship, national territory
Who exercises what?
✏ States usually have the following:✏ Local government, state budget and taxes, education, law and
order, state level planning, public works, environment, natural resources.
Who exercises what?
✏ Possible concurrent powers:✏ Agriculture and fisheries, energy, trade and industry, tourism,
labor and employment, communication, science and technology, culture, social welfare and development.
How Federalism Arises
✏ By “coming together”✏ United States, Switzerland, Australia
✏ By “splitting and holding together”✏ India, Belgium, Canada, Spain
What holds them together?
✏ A Federal Constitution superior to state constitutions.
Criteria for Division
✏ Culture and language✏ Geographic contiguity✏ Economic viability
Form of federal government
✏ Either parliamentary or presidential✏ Either unicameral or bicameral
How Divide Nation into States?
✏ 3: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao✏ 5: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, Bangsa Moro, Cordilleras✏ 7: South Luzon, Central Luzon, North Luzon, Visayas, North Mindanao,
South Mindanao✏ 12: The existing Administrative Regions
Supposed Benefits of Federalism
✏ Empowerment of local communities✏ Motivating local communities✏ Accountability of local officials✏ Hastening of development
When Will it Come, Or Will it Come?
✏ ? ? ? ? ?
How Change Happens: The 1987 Text
✏ Section 1. Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by:
✏ (1) The Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members; or
✏ (2) A constitutional convention.✏ Sec. 2. Amendments to this Constitution may
likewise be directly proposed by the people through initiative and referendum . .
Constitutional Convention
✏ How formed: Congress calls it by a vote of 2/3 of all its Members.✏ Members of Con Con are elected✏ They propose eithr amendmens or revision✏ What was it like in 1971?✏ Will we have a Constitutional Convention?
Congress as Constituent Assembly
✏ May propose amendment or revision by a vote of 3/4 of all its members
✏ Do the two Hose vote jointly or separately?✏ What are the chances that this can happen?
Intitiative and Referendum: Two Steps
✏ A power for the people, not government✏ Initiative: (1) formulation of the proposed amendment and (2) gathering of
signatures✏ Number of signatures needed: 3% of registered voters in a district and 12%
nationwide.✏ Only amendments, and not revision, may be proposed.
Obstacles to Initiative and Referendum
✏ No enabling law. (Santiago v Comelec)✏ May propose only amendments and not revision.
✏ Switching to parliamentary system from presidential system is a revision.
Moral Issues in Current Signature Campaign
✏ Initiative belongs to the people, not to government.✏ Lack of information on what is being offered.✏ Parliamentary system is being touted as panacea for our ills, but no
indication of how.✏ Who will really benefit from the change?
When Changes Take Effect
✏ When ratified by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite called for the purpose
✏ The strange case of the 1973 Constitution✏ A product of fait accomplie
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