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Which among the solutions is most applicable; charter change orreforms in the government?

Through the years, the Philippine experience with democracy has

undergone many phases of ups and down. The areas that democracy hasfailed us, or the democratic deficits, have sparked the interest of the peopleto look for possible solutions to counter these deficits. What comes to mindthen is the process of Charter Change which has long lingered in the field ofpolitics and the less radical means of implementing much needed reforms inthe government. Which among the solutions is most applicable; charterchange or reforms in the government

!emocracy or the rule of the people has conveniently been acceptedand embraced by the "ilipino people. Through the years, it has been evidentthat the deficiencies and problems of the present presidential form of

government have both or the politicians and other citi#ens concerned.

!emocratic deficits manifest in not only one aspect of governance.!emocratic deficits are present whenever there is a lack or absence oftransparency, accountability, and predictability. There are deficits in thedemocratic institutions that we have, such as political party system, theelectoral system, the presence of political dynasties, the $ustice system andthe rule of law; the existence of corruption, the relationship of localgovernment and the national government and also in the %"P and P&P. Withthe democratic institutions experiencing deficiencies, the social andeconomic systems are affected as well.

!emocratic deficits have also been plaguing the social and economicsystems like the 'ducation, (ealth, 'nvironment, Population and public)private sector partnership. The democratic institutions constitute a big partof the democratic framework of our government. *ut as these institutionsbecome deficient, the big idea of it being in line with the democraticprinciples becomes doubtful. +ur present political party system shows thatturncoatism is still practiced by our politicians instead of creating andmaintaining political parties based on political views and platforms. sing itas a vessel for candidates to be elected is done instead. -ack of party loyaltythus contributes to the existence of weak political parties. The absence of

accountability of campaign funds and clear rules for funds and auditing leadsthe way to the emergence of failures and shortcomings in the governmentoffices.

n our country, the mention of political dynasties is no longersurprising. These political dynasties make it difficult to level the playing fieldin the political arena against candidates who are capable but less financiallyendowed. The rule of law is also being lenient and lacking of effective

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policies related to the $ustice system. The $ustice system of today still needsimprovement when it comes to the access to $ustice by the poor anddisadvantaged. The local government and national government couldsometimes be strained by politics or differences when it comes to budgetallocation. With the changing trends the needs for the local government

units to keep in professionali#ation and interaction with other -01sworldwide becomes imminent.

The %rmed "orces of the Philippines along with the Philippine &ationalPolice 2%"P and P&P3, which have the same purpose of protecting the stateand its citi#ens to those who pose threat to the security and welfare alsobecome deficient. Throughout some of the recent administrations, thecountry has witnessed a series of coup attempts which only manifests thepolitici#ation of the %"P. +n the other hand, the politici#ation of the P&P ismanifested through the influence of -0s through supporting financially andgiving recruitment recommendations. *ut among the aforementioned

democratic institutions with deficits, probably the existence of corruption inthe one that has the most impact on people1s lives since it is a combinationof deficits that deprive "ilipinos of the opportunities for improvement whilethe corrupt parties benefit through their vested interests. +ther deficitsinvolved in special concerns like insurgencies and in food security indicatedthe derailment of development in rural areas due to communist and 4+5+insurgencies. n the food security, the lack of proper means on how tomanage these problems is amiss.

With the democratic institutions showing deficits, the social andeconomic systems were not spared from the existence of deficits. Theeducation system struggles from its problems with the allocated budget ascompared to other countries. This then affects the 6uality of teachers andthe 6uality of education being given. The need to further evaluate theeducation system since standards and 6uality of other countries put us atthe bottom. n the health care system, financing and fund sourcing areproblems being faced. There is a lack of unifying standard or integratedregulatory functions for health professions. (ealth governance is at timesoverlooked. The environment and other related rights have been under mindby environmental degradation. The adverse effects experienced by thePhilippines are yet to be mitigated. The population or rather theoverpopulation strains on limited resources for health care, housing andother basic services. The relationship or partnership between the public)private sectors is crucial for the economic growth of a country. *ut in thePhilippines there is an absence of a strong partnership between thegovernment and the business7private sector as the engine of growth whichslows the economic development as compared to countries with strongpublic)private sector partnership.

The deficits found in both democratic institutions and social economicsystems are interlinked and inter)related. %s the democratic institutions

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directly affect the governance. The social and economic systems becomecomprised such that irregularities, imbalances and other negative effectsfollow through. 4ore often than not, the effects of having deficientdemocratic institutions are directly proportional to the progress of the socialand economic systems. 0overnment corruption hinders the smooth flow of

effective governance over the services that are to be rendered to the people.5arely does it happen that corrupt government officials or agency does bringabout positive results for the betterment of the "ilipinos.

The existence of democratic deficits suggests the many failures ofpolitical institutions, political systems and even the failure of the people tocope up. 9olutions to these deficits are urgently needed to put a halt to oreven $ust lessen its existence. The list of possible solutions go on but at theend it all goes down to whether the "ilipino people are ready to take a leaptowards charter change or the shifting of presidentialism to parliamentarism,or instead implement political structural and institutional reforms.

Charter Change or the proposal to change the form of government hasbeen around the Philippines for some time. +ur present form of governmentwhich is presidential in form is being claimed by some to be the cause thatsuch deficits exist. +nly by providing clear and concrete solutions to theseproblems that Philippines may be able to head towards development.Parliamentarism, it carried out will change the form of government. That wehave in this set)up the way elections are done will change due to theprivilege of the parliament to give out :no confidence votes to theincumbent leader who they might perceive undeserving of the position.Parliamentarism will not or may have a big possibility of bringing out positiveeffects to the party system. t will be a party government and loyalty fromparty members will be compelled thus the emergence of strong politicalparties compared to the parties of a presidential form of government. *utthen, by shifting towards a different form of government, is there anassurance that the problems and challenges of political, social and economicsector will be abolished

Charter Change re6uires time, effort and approved by the people.Changing the form of government that the "ilipinos have become used to, isa difficult task. !espite the fact that the changes may bring will be beneficialto our democracy, the steps towards reali#ing these changes will re6uirelong political debates. The focus that should be given to the pressing issues

is instead shifted to the implementation. %ll new changes entail time forfamiliari#ation. The complete transition from one form of government toanother will have citi#ens scrambling for ways on how to ad$ust. The manyyears of groundwork laid out on the present form of government will bescrapped in favour of a new one. Parliamentarism being a different conceptdoes entirely assure of governance free from problematic situations.

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