Why we’re catching the last bus
By Gerry Garcia

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Parliament” seems to be the word of the times today here in Pinoyland as it presupposes,   for most, the long wished chance to free ourselves from the rut of mass poverty and underdevelopment, including  a culture of corruption  believed to have been spawned basically by a politics-riddened government.

At bottom of this popular disenchantment with the style of pinoy governance today is the lack of unity believed resulting from our 2-faced legislature. Our present Congress patterned after that Mother America, is made up of two houses, one for district representatives and the other for national senators. These two sectors meant to provide the check and balance security of a democratic law-making body, are in reality up against each other’s throats to further a personal or partisan cause. At least this is the crux of mass opposition to our bicameral Congress today, correctly or not. That’s why most administration-sponsored bills, perceived wrongly of not as being one-sided or partisan, are often shelved or sat on indefinitely by opposition senate.

The nation’s national presidency too, often suspected of being too powerful and biased owing to its easy access to huge government funds, is seen as added burden to our already complicated system of democratic government. Even comedians and swashbuckling heroes from Pinoy filmdom, including celebrity has-beens from the mediaworld who are at least utterly popular can run for the presidency. After all, ours is a free country, Pinoywise.

By the way, parliament (A legislative body) is originally British. The British parliament comprises two houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Commons, as far as we can remember, is made up of representatives from countries (towns?) elected by the people. The House of Lords,  also the Supreme Court in England, is (according to encyclopedic source) made up of two classes, each comprising , respectively, dukes, marquises, earls, and barons; and archbishops and bishops. Basic membership is hereditary.

The procedure in the House of Lords is similar to that in the House of Commons and for a long time both Houses were equal in power. In the time of Charles II, the power of the Lords over finance was severely curtailed, and in 1911, the Lords were made subservient to the Commons, Now the house of Lords can only delay not  utterly reject, legislation passed by the Commons.

We Orientals in this part of the world, however, see the parliament as a unitary law-making body that has made our Southeast Asian neighbors, like Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, etc. so rich beyond our imagination that they can provide employment to millions of our co-Pinoys who could not make both ends meet here in our starving cash-strapped Pinoyland.

     And those who had been left behind intend to go full-speed ahead no matter what happens to catch the last bus under fellow-Dagupeño Speaker JDV and his many followers in government and outside.

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