Collen Anne S.

Pagaduan
POSC12: Comparative Government and Politics
Final Paper
PNOYS TERM EXTENSION AND THE REINFORCEMENT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL
SYSTEM IN THE PHILIPPINES
Recently, there has been a more than usual barrage of attacks on the incumbent President
Benigno Simeon Aquino III (Pnoy for short) for his purported seeking of a second term. This
would entail an ammendment on our constitution(so as to allow a president to serve for more
than one six year term) or a full-on charter change.
As a political science student, I think that it is about time we ammend the fundamental
law of the land. The recent events have shown that the current state of the country has out grown
the 1987 constitution, particularly Article VII, Section 4 which provides for the limits of the term
of president. Currently, the president serves a term of six years and is not eligible for reelection.
This has been upheld for the past 27 years(with the notable exception of the Arroyo
administration which lasted for 8 years)-and to what effect? Most of the countrys problems have
not been properly addressed, and at best, the governments machinations have only scratched the
surface. Why is that? Every six years(when we are thoroughly disenchanted and disillusioned
with the president we thought was going to change the system-even though change the system
is a highly volatile and relative term free for creative reinterpretation-when we voted for him six
years prior)we choose a president who will be the champion of our ideals and aspirations for
the next six years. Our champion is then tasked with the heavy burden of mastering the beast
we know as the Philippine bureaucracy as well as cooperating with two other branches of the
government that are as powerful as the executive(the judiciary and the legislative). He shall do
this while his bosses demand more government services, less taxes(like less spending on the
military while expecting the countrys borders to be heavily guarded).He shall do all this and
more, IN A SPAN OF SIX YEARS. Even if we put the most capable and competent Filipino in
this seat, he cannot achieve a substantial amount of the things his bosses want given that short
span of time. This dilemma was reflected in the words of former president Manuel L. Quezon,
who argued that six years was too long for a bad president and too short for a good president(hi
might have meant that about himself).
The needs of the Philippines are different from when the 1987 constitution was framed.
We can either choose to complain and criticize or make do with what we have and try to improve
it. From what I can make out of what has transpired, Pnoys move is one in the right direction.
With a term extension, he has more time to pursue programs that he would not have been
able to in his first few years as president. Of course, we have to address just how long should the
term extension be? Should he be eligible for reelection?
If we were to follow the Russian example, where the president serves for a maximum of
two consecutive six year terms, will it be enough or too much? This might lead to a Philippine
counterpart of the Russian superpresidency and perhaps an even more powerful second coming
of a Marcos wannabe. Then again, a Marcos wannabe(in the sense of economic and military
development) would be what the Philippines needs right now.
In the end, before we can reform our constitution or even the term limits of the executive,
we must first reform our political culture. The best way to achieve that is through education.
According to Thomas Jefferson, If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of
civilization, it expects what never was and will never be.