New political cycle
Noon of last Sunday power - an o<ercise tltat
( 30 June marked the
It utaa staxi of the term of the
reported, new set of politicians.
tlnt a totol The weekend was filled
of 890 Eorce with social media
Bilk and posts of oaJh-taking
ceremonies ofhundreds
24 Eouse
leaders vith either a
Ruohtllotts of
renewed mandate, or a
werefiled on
new one altogether. For
tltc fr.t'st dau most of them, it was QUO UADIS
rDith Bep, probably their 2nd or Danen lVl. de Jesus
Rattl dcl 3rd oarhtaking, but it.
Mar gelti.ng won't hult repeating it to emphasize we will not be forced to elect his
tltc nunbers their political victor.g addins salt io housewife, jobless brother or spoiled
11 to 14, the wountls of ftis year's loserc. kids to office. To make this happen,
For localalected offrcials, their the Constitution must likewise be
tlueeyearjoumey has begun - a term
that is urdoubted$ too shot. I hav€
' to meet anyone who t,llinl(s ttnl
'et years is a long enough period
three
for an elected ofiicial to effect true
charge in their district. Ihe 1$ year
is usually spent gettifu the ground
runniry, while thb last yea,r is for
hardcore campaigning to ensure a
re€ledion, leaving onry a single rcar br
real raor\ ftee ftom a.ny dlstractionsr
though an experienced politician
is on continuous campaign-mode
from day one. This wdter is of the
opinion that a four-year term is more
appropriate, which shall necessitate
a Constitutional amendment.
For us nonelected citizens, we
see the same p€ople. Sue, $€ ha!€
Vico, Zamora, Isko, ,t ., A€sh faces
that overtluew longJasiing dynasties,
but the vast m4jority of the elected
belong to rreluJlown political farnilies.
We don't have aryone to blame €r(cept
ourselves for redurulantly bringing
them back to pov€r, or we can axgue
the patriarchal system that ne hare
where the poor finds themseh€s as
poor all the time, thus .maldng it a
habit for them to beg ftom tlrcse in
ofeither hesiderf or \4ce President.
hanslates to lotes every
three yeaxs.
To address this,
we car reexamine the
term limits imposed
on local offrcials by the
Constitution (a9., thee
terms of three years,
total of nine yeaxs). To
illustrate, if e prefer a
certain politician, then
let's keep eleciing him
until he dies. this watr1
amended. But with the statement of
the President to let so of Federalism
- a sta.tement- temleied down by
others from Malacafrang - it is
questionable ifne will ever touch the
CorBtitution in the last three yeaxs
of this adminishatiorl
Speaking of law anendments, bur
legislaton heve filed their frIst bils
in both houses of Congress. At the
Ilouse of Representatives, the lines
$ere long on 1 JUV l4onday to get
the much coveted lower numbers,
notwithstarding that number I to 10
are reserved brJ,he expect€d Speaker
of the llouse. It was reported that a
total of 890 Hous€ Bils and 24 Iiouse
Resolutioru urcre filed on the fls day
with Rep, Rad del Max getting the
numbers ll to 14. His staffeN deserve
an award for this.
For the newly elected. national
officials, our l2 S€natoN, tlrcirs is.a
mandate that will oceed tfte term of
our President. the ambitious b.mong
tftem 'may try making a run' for. it
in 2022 since a loss will orw mean
r€verting back to their Senatorial
seat. the top votegetting Senators
are inst nt favorites for the cardidacy,
\ lrAqrz ^ Aq tl
As the opening of Congress nears,
we are getting a clearer pictue on
the leademhip. Senate President nto
Sotto seems to have a good hold of
his position, but let's see if he will
be affected by the declaration of
nep. Paolo Duterte to vie for the
Speakership, which may spark other
allies of the hesident to gab the top
posi in ihe Senate. Can we imagine
Sen. Bong Go as Senate President?
For now, let
$ us look at the
For kry elrnts thai in
Iacalelectptl mY oPinion .maY
ttnir shape the political
offii:inls.
il""o" tiri-""" landscape in the
neKt fbw velTs.
nna De,ortn - a
: - former sen.
urmtLet is GreE }ion asan
undaubteclfu finailv assumed
too shart his position
as Secretary
of Department of Information ard
Communications Technology, a
technical post with a broad ma,rdafn
ihat car be used for intelligence
purposes. In lvlinda.nao and va,rious
in the Philippines, ordinary folk
a.reas
axe up in axns with the closue of
KAPA Mnistry by the Securities and
hchange Commission, purportedly
prodded by Apollo Quiboloy. With
the millions of people engmssed rvith
KAPd vell see how politicians may
us€ this for their adl€Itage. IrS,b the
mmplicated Cldnafhilippine relatiors
on the West Philippine Sea is being
managed quite loosely, something
that may snowball into an actual
impeachment case, though doomed
for dismissal in a Eouse led by the
hesident's son. Interesting staxt for
the n€,w set of politicians.
Email; dnrren. dqj eau@ gmail.
com v tweet hirn @dnnvnlqie ,s.