Senate President wanted?

from CTALK by Cito Beltran (The Philippine Star) Jan 13, 2010
 http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=540338&publicationSubCategoryId=64

Before anyone accuses me of instigating a coup d’état in the Philippine Senate, allow me to give some background to today’s topic.

Yesterday, I received an SMS from JJ Soriano of UP concerning leadership concerns amidst the Presidential elections of 2010. His SMS goes:

“Hi…this is JJ Soriano. I am writing to you because of a valid concern about which I think you are in a position to write about in your column. In the event of a failure of elections this year, the highest official who will have the mandate and the responsibility to be the caretaker-President is the Senate President.

However, Enrile’s term is also ending this June 30. Given this and the fact that the Senate goes on recess on February 6, perhaps it is necessary now for the incumbent Senators to elect a new Senate President BEFORE the recess, whose term is (still) expiring in 2013. I strongly believe that discussion on this should already be initiated given the limited time left.”

I certainly agree with JJ on the part that the idea and the situation be discussed.

I know nothing about the real workings of the Senate so I have no idea just how possible it is to vote for a new Senate President and who that potential candidate would be.

Not only will we need a replacement Senate President, we will also need a competent and trustworthy Senate President who can be trusted to handle the transition and not someone capable of staging his or her own coup to take over as President not only of the Senate but of the entire Philippines.

Unfortunately, our history is full of questions and intrigues concerning “Transition leadership” or temporary Presidents. Remember the Cory Aquino-Doy Laurel controversy, where a power sharing deal allegedly brokered by Cardinal Jaime Sin made Tita Cory would be President for the first half and then Doy Laurel would come in for the second half but never got to.

All of them are dead now but to this day we cannot be certain about what really happened. Was a deal really made? With Doy Laurel’s death anniversary coming up, I’m certain that the controversy will probably be given a few column inches relative to Noynoy Aquino’s presidential bid.

Of course the Cory-Doy tandem was not the only “transition government” that suffered controversy and conflict. Recent history gives us the “temporary” Presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo which, thanks to electronic media, has gone on to be the perfect reason of why we should never rely on temporary or transition leadership.

When Malacañang called for a meeting of the National Security Council, I was somewhat hopeful that this serious concern about failed elections and leadership gap would be discussed and addressed.

In fact I was hoping that the council would discuss not only the Senate Presidency being vacant after June 30, I had hoped that they would also talk about the need to appoint a new chief justice of the Supreme Court in relation to the same problem of leadership gaps. That way the council might have come up with an answer that would kill all the controversies right now.

Unfortunately that apparently did not happen. So what exactly can we expect?

Chances are Manong Johnny will keep the post until the next Congress unless a move is made to replace him. That’s not being selfish of senator Enrile because in truth the problem is that everything hinges on the issue: Failure of elections.

As a seasoned politician, Senator Enrile will be the first to tell us that Filipinos tend to be afraid of their own shadow or have a habit of expecting the worst. Manong Johnny has seen the worst of times in this country and given enough time, our fears and our problems always sort themselves out.

As far as the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is concerned, President Arroyo will almost certainly appoint one because she has to and needs to. PGMA has never been one to pussyfoot on such issues and the best way to make Arroyo do what you don’t want her to do is to tell her “don’t”.

On a practical side, anyone in Arroyo’s place would be better off appointing her choice than her nightmare. Having the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on your side is an immediate advantage in future legal issues as she goes into unchartered territory. My bet is, given a choice; the next Chief Justice will be someone who has a longer shelf life and several years of service before the expiry date!

Erap at the Palace

More than anything it was a basic PR move for former President Estrada to accept Malacanang’s invitation to attend the National Security Council meeting. His mere presence and “comeback” was an instant story certain to get coverage for the major news organizations, which it did.

Erap’s decision to go to Malacañang also made him look conciliatory, the invitation made him look like a vital player and respected even by his enemies. In short Erap should thank God and the NSC for giving him a double favor.

Without doubt, Erap will be a major force to reckon with in 2010.

Those who foolishly dismiss him as yesterday’s news need to be reminded of how a similar character named Imelda Marcos significantly affected the outcome of the 1992 Presidential elections.

Advisers to the leading candidates all dismissed the former First Lady as an insignificant concern. Well little miss muffin certainly got in the way for some people intent on going to Malacañang.

Erap may not be at the top of the charts, but anyone serious about Malacañang should at the very least recognize and respect him as a challenge or a major potential obstacle because he is.