Oct.

6,2009
Six Years Term For The Presidency Is Quite Enough
By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr

The proposal of the constitutional amendment advocates to lengthen the term

of an elected President to more than 6 years is no longer acceptable and
recommendable in our present situation. The lessening of the presidential term was
enacted because of the abuses seen during the Marcos Administration, which he
ruled for 20 years.
Yes, it cannot be denied. that the late strongman has achieved more in terms
of accomplishments than the other past Presidents on various projects, among
others, like Maharlika Highway that connect different regions of the country,
rural electrification, green revolution, construction of more school buildings,
roads and bridges, the long and huge bridge connecting Leyte and Samar, health
care centers, education, hospital buildings, investment boom, free medicines for
the poor, scholarship grants, roro projects.
However, too long stay in power would tend a politician-leader to forget that
it was the people who gave him his power as the elected President and not on his
own. It is a grant. But a politician’s forgetfulness and his oblivious tendency to
overlook a given power would drive him to commit abuses of authority. And this is
the lesson learned from the Marcos regime by the people and the lawmakers.
Although there were some abuses not committed by Marcos himself but by some of his
minions in some government agencies. Yet because of command responsibility he has
to bear the brunt of blame from all sectors of society as the Head of State.
Apparently, the past experiences on abuse of power were taken seriously by
our legislators to anchor the laws that they were promulgating in the 1987
Constitutional Assembly. Certainly young and old Filipinos
do not want a repeat of the kind of abuses committed by the Marcos regime.
Nonetheless, there’s an urgent necessity for some of our 1987 laws to be amended
to suit our current needs.
The Philippines, because of computer/internet inventions as the product of
modern Science and Advanced Technology, is now a member of the global communities.
We need to be also globally competitive in our products, services and other
endeavours, whether in the government or in the private sector. The six years term
for the Presidency is quite enough. Four years term is too short for a good
President. The length of 6-year term is quite bearable and tolerable for the
electorate. It’s in the neutral stage-neither too long nor too short. Within a
span of 6 years, a good President can already achieve a great leap in his/her
performance. And therefore there should be no more Presidential re-elections.
Even if by misfortune we accidentally elect a presidential candidate, who as
the months passed he’s found to be inept and abusive President. The only recourse
is for the people to ouster him/her as unfit for the position either by
impeachment or thru people power. The Filipino voters should be wise now in
electing our leaders up to the national leadership and down to the barangay level.
Our people must also use their sacred right to vote and stop selling it to
politicians for a hundred or thousands of pesos. Because candidates were spending
less during elections, there’s also the balancing conscience to refrain from
stealing money in the government’s coffers when they were occupying positions.
This step is a great help in minimizing, if not eradicating corruptions in the
government service, a chronic ill that embed in a civil society because of seeming
tolerance from the higher-ups.
Another reason for the avoidance of presidential re-election is that we
should give other aspiring potential leaders their chance to serve the country and
its people. We should discard our past idealism of having only one Head of State
to lead us for long years thru re-elections. I believe there are in our midst many
young professionals who are educationally prepared for various government
positions. Some of them might be pro-poor and prudently good future leaders who
need to be tapped for leadership training. Likewise we must stop the practice of
electing candidates, who with whims and caprices, have joined in the vanwagon of
politics even without any educational preparation for any position in the
government. The taxpayers’ money use by the government for their monthly salaries
and allowances are just a waste of hard-earned resources.(Copyright 2009 by
Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)