A contempt for the public (Part I)

It is the barbarism of mindless profit-seeking, of getting something for almost nothing, of doing brisk business on the despair of others…it is the culture of shabbiness, of neglect, and of perpetual improvisation. It is the absolute contempt for the public.^.1

Every law passed by the 13th Congress of the Philippines cost P148.94 million. Only 84 bills were passed, the lowest turnout in the whole legislative history of the Philippines. To make that sinking feeling in one's stomach more pronounced, only 32 out of those 84 bills were nationally significant, the rest being infrastructure projects for the congressman's district, conversion of municipalities into cities, proclamation of new non-working holidays, franchise grants, and other laws of only local significance.²

The new 14^th Congress produced by the last May elections should give us hope of a better performance than that of the last Congress, whose achievement cannot even be called mediocre but simply, for lack of a suitable politically correct term, horrible. To think that their budget cost the Filipino a pretty penny—12.5 billion pesos. We can only cringe and hope that the new congresspeople are more merciful than their predecessors because at this point, all we can reasonably ask for is mercy. Not intelligence, transparency, accountability, honesty or even civility. Just mercy.

Or maybe not. Even now it seems as if it's still too much to ask. The oligarchy which is the Philippine government has not been replaced by new blood, that of the marginalized sector. The same land-owning elite which have ruled the Philippines exactly a hundred years ago in the 1^st Philippine Legislature is essentially the same (and in some cases, exactly the same³) joined by the nouveau rich who made their fortunes through lucrative enterprises, middle-class professionals, and lawyers. ⁴ It is interesting to note that the average net worth of our representatives from the 11^th to the 13^th Congress has steadily increased from 8 to 22 million pesos within twelve years.⁵ This piece of statistic shows that you've got to be a millionaire if you want to make it to the House—and keep it that way.

One can hardly expect the members of the marginalized sectors in our society to be millionaires, can we? Nor can we expect them to wield sufficient influence in fighting for their rights and their concerns to be represented in the law-making process. Our congresspeople are supposed to do exactly that, but their business interests invariably almost always comes first before policies or programs—before the people they are supposed to serve.⁶ Thus, Randy David introduced the concept of the powerless public. He says, “the public, long accustomed to the ways of the uncaring State, may at first organize itself into constituencies to protest and assert their rights to public hearings. In time, however, everyone learns to cope privately.^{7 “}

What is the configuration of the new Congress? What is a possible solution to the elite dominance in the Lower House? Find out in Part II.

 Also, if you just scrolled down and didn't read this, just congratulate me. I got 1.5 for the course yay!

Sources:

¹ David, Randy. Public Lives: Essays on selfhood and social solidarity. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing Inc.,1998 p 148

² Ordones-Cascolan, Lala. “Congress passes even fewer laws on even bigger budget.” Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism 23 April 2007. 14 Sept. 2007 <http://www.pcij.org/i-report/2007/13thcongress.html>.

³ such as the Cojuangcos/Teodoros (Tarlac), De Venecia/Perez (Pangasinan), Ponce Enrile (Cagayan), Fuentebella (Camarines Sur), Lacson (Negros Occidental), Sandoval (Palawan/Navotas), Estrella (Pangasinan), Gonzales (Mandaluyong), among others, whose families have been in congress since 1907

Pabico, Alecks. “Still not very representative.” Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism 10 Jun. 2007. 14 Sept. 2007. <http://www.pcij.org/blog/?p=1762>.

⁴ Coronel, Sheila S. “How Representative is Congress?” Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism 24 March 2004. 14 Sept. 2007 <http://www.pcij.org/stories/2004/congress.html>.

⁵ ibid

⁶ Arao, Gealogo, Manalansan Jr., Muga et. al. Oligarchic Politics: Elections and the Party-List System in the Philippines. Quezon City: CenPeg Books, 2007

⁷ David, Randy. Public Lives: Essays on selfhood and social solidarity. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing Inc.,1998