Abolish Congress?

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At the rate this sordid corruption mess is slowly unfolding, I agree with a PIDS (a government economic think tank) news release that said what we are afraid to say: dissolving Congress makes sense.

“Calls are growing louder for radical reform — even dissolving Congress temporarily to allow a civilian-military transition government tasked with cleansing the system. The logic is simple: you cannot expect thieves to investigate themselves,” PIDS said.

If things don’t offer us hope soon, more and more people will think it is worthwhile to just have the President issue decrees and save us the trillion pesos for the operating expenses and the pork funds of a useless legislative body.

Personally, I am afraid of another Marcos president issuing decrees, given my martial law experience. But we are closer and closer to a dead-end situation which gives us little choice but to take chances on what hopefully is the lesser evil.

PIDS suggests: “A one-year transition could convene a constitutional convention to shift toward a parliamentary system — one that reduces the number of legislators, regionalizes the election of senators, and decentralizes power away from Manila’s political dynasties…”

I would rather abolish the Senate. One legislative body limited to just 150 members should be enough. I also don’t trust a transition junta of civilian and military officials. BBM issuing decrees is still better, as one man is accountable.

The PIDS justifies dissolution of this Congress as necessary to break the cycle that has put us in this mess.

First, conflict of interest — Congress cannot continue to write and police its own budget.

Second, entrenched corruption — patronage politics and discretionary funds ensure loyalty, not transparency.

Third, unequal representation — the Senate remains dominated by Luzon-based elites, marginalizing Visayas and Mindanao.

Fourth, weak oversight — Investigations stall because they implicate those conducting them.

I fully agree with the PIDS story that “without structural reform, the Philippines will keep walking in circles — richer budgets, poorer people and deeper cynicism.”

On a positive note, it is great to see that PIDS is being given complete freedom to think, something the technocrats don’t seem capable of doing. PIDS has done good research to make the government more efficient and responsive to social needs.

The PIDS suggestion has become even more relevant in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision nullifying former finance secretary Ralph Recto’s transfer of P60 billion in PhilHealth funds to fund ghost flood control projects.

The SC ruled what should have been obvious: those PhilHealth funds are covered by the Sin Tax Law which specifically instructed the use of proceeds to increase the capability of PhilHealth to cover the health needs of the people. That PhilHealth was managed by incompetents who may also be corrupt and failed to use that money is another story.

Recto also took P107 billion from Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. These are not even, strictly speaking, government funds.

Those PDIC funds are premiums paid by the banks to an insurance system to protect depositors from bank failures. Taking that money away impairs the actuarial health of the insurance fund, or its ability to perform its function in case of a bank run.

The PDIC fund should also be returned. But the bankers and their Bankers Association are too afraid to do the right thing and ask.

A blog, Morning Coffee Thoughts, traced the roots of that offending “insert” allowing the DOF to raid the treasuries of PhilHealth and PDIC among other GOCCs.

“The final provision that became law — Special Provision 1(d) of the 2024 General Appropriations Act — wasn’t in the original House version. It wasn’t in the Senate version either.

“It appeared during the bicameral conference committee. That’s the closed-door meeting where senators and congressmen reconcile their budget differences. Senate president Chiz Escudero was there. House speaker Martin Romualdez was there.

“The provision emerged. Nobody knows exactly who inserted what. Walang minutes. Walang transparency.

“And that provision? The Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional from the start.”

And who was the crafty evil genius who thought up the scheme? Fingers are pointing to former Congressman Joey Salceda.

But Salceda denied making the insertion because he was not even a member of the appropriations committee, the bicam nor the small committee. Salceda admitted filing a bill, House Bill 9513 seeking a cash sweep of GOCCs with idle funds to fund the 2023 unprogrammed allocations.

Salceda said his proposal did not become law and he did not file it again to fund the 2024 pork budget. He said he got the idea from how Duterte funded the COVID response.

The Morning Coffee blog admits that Joey’s claim is “technically true. But also incomplete. Yes, the final provision might differ from his original bill. But he authored the concept. He advocated for it loudly, repeatedly, for years. He wanted PhilHealth’s excess funds freed up. He got what he wanted.”

Oo nga naman. Salceda should be asked why he thought it was okay to use PhilHealth funds to fund pork barrel. Salceda should have used his genius only to promote the national interest, not support congressional greed.

A special law earmarked those PhilHealth funds only for use in expanding our universal healthcare. Escudero and Romualdez should tell us who made the insertion, as if it wasn’t the two of them agreeing to screw the people.

As Morning Coffee puts it, “The PhilHealth scandal isn’t just about P60 billion. It’s about a system where bad laws can be born in closed-door meetings, passed without proper scrutiny, implemented by bureaucrats…”

While Recto should not be solely blamed, he illegally implemented a faulty insertion and defended it with all his heart. The PDIC head should have also refused to have his insurance fund touched.

But technocrats, afraid for their careers, are often complicit in carrying out crimes against the people. That’s our country’s tragedy carried over from the first Marcos presidency. Sad!

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco