DEMOCRACY is defined as a government by the people, in which the supreme power is vested in the people and is exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
During his inaugural speech last June, President Benigno Aquino III said, “Kayo ang boss ko, kaya’t hindi maaring hindi ako makinig sa mga utos ninyo (You are my boss, that is why I cannot afford to not attend to your requests).” It was also one of the parts in the speech of the president that earned back the trust of the Filipino people to the government, in hopes of finally achieving true democracy.
That said, House Bill 220 authored by Quezon Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III, which forbids any elected official to assume another appointed position in the government, has already been approved in the Congress.
According to Tañada, the idea of the passed bill is for an elected official to keep the role vested upon him by the sovereign people and to abstain from
leaving his office to accept another position appointed to him by the government.
Tañada believes that an elected official should be answerable to the general public that put him into position; not to the government that appoints him of another position that pushes him to resign from his current post.
According to Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. (4th District Cavite), chairman of the House committee, the bill was reported out so that members of the plenary can discuss and express their ideas regarding the approved bill which was voted 5-3.
In the statement of Tañada that many elected officials leave their positions for an appointed post, Barzaga likewise said that the bill’s chief concern is to avoid the situation wherein an official, especially a governor leaves a post for an appointive job.
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Pablo Garcia of Cebu contests the idea saying that there should be some “sort of modification or exemptions in the House Bill 220,” for there also exist rules in the current government granting the take over of an official next in rank in the position vacated by its predecessor in cases of resignation, death, incapacity, etcetera.
He cited an example that when people elected a vice-governor, it is in the assumption that should anything happen to the governor, the vice-governor is equipped enough to take over.
Garcia also added that in the account that the President needs an elected official’s service, “he is constrained to resign and accept the appointment because of greater interest.”
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez agrees with Garcia as he pointed out that the President should not be deprived of choosing the best and the brightest even among the elected officials as there were many cases that an official appointed from the member of the Congress to be a member of the cabinet turned out to have served efficiently according to his credentials.
A nation’s democracy should exist and should always exist for its sovereign people; for without the latter, the system would be futile. In the case of making a decision, whether it may be appointing an official or leaving a post as an official, the reason for any action should always be for the sake of a better nation and not for personal gain. (AJPress)
( www.asianjournal.com )
( Published September 24, 2010 in Asian Journal Orange County p. A6 )
