OP ED EDITORIAL: Crumbling House supermajority shows weak political parties

 The overnight disintegration of the administration’s supermajority in the House of Representatives, as led by PDP-Laban, demonstrates the weakness of the Philippine political party system. Moreover, it shows the vulnerability of the Duterte administration to a serious challenge by a cohesive and determined political opposition.

One day, PDP-Laban looked like it was on top of the world as it held the leadership in both chambers of Congress via then Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez (party secretary-general) and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel 3rd (party president).

The supermajority coalition in both houses looked set to steamroll over all opposition to force through various legislative proposals of the administration, including a shift to a federal form of government.

 

In just a span of two months, however, the leadership makeup became Humpty Dumpty. Pimentel lost the Senate presidency to Sen. Vicente Sotto 3rd because a majority of senators in the coalition decided on a change in leadership. In similar fashion, Alvarez was unceremoniously toppled as speaker by a vote of no confidence by members of the majority coalition. In his place, they installed former Philippine president and current Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the new speaker.

No one has come out of these developments more sorry and hapless than PDP-Laban. Its seeming strength and influence became exposed as fundamentally flawed.

Pimentel and Alvarez both came to their posts solely on the strength of their coming from Mindanao, and not for any length of political leadership and public service. Their hold on their positions was totally dependent on the stability of the coalitions and the continued support of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The change in leaders was not the only blow to PDP-Laban. In the wake of the tumultuous row over the speakership, members of PDP-Laban who supported Arroyo’s election have now signified their intent to leave the party and join instead the newly-born political party of presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte: Hugpong ng Pagbabago (Alliance for Change).

This will be a major turn of events if it pushes through. And it will be fraught with implications, going into the elections next year.

The big question is whether this is literally the disintegration of a political party before our eyes. Can the Pimentels hold the party together without Duterte taking the reins?

Second, will the majorities of both chambers hold long enough to pass the priority legislative proposals of the President? Will the new leaders be more lucky and adept in keeping the loyalty and support of coalition members?

Nothing is sure. Congress leaders who lost their choice posts are anxious to regroup and in time exact their revenge.

The real problem here is not the weakness and shiftiness of coalitions. By their nature, political coalitions are makeshift and transactional. They can easily fragment over an issue.

President Duterte, for all the popularity of his leadership, does not command right now the support of clear majorities in the House and the Senate. Already, senators are plotting and boasting about their plans to block certain measures of the administration.

The bigger problem is the innate puerility and lack of influence of Filipino political parties. At this time, there are no real political parties in Congress, in the sense that they are truly organized, that they have members, and that they exist to pursue a particular set of political or social goals.

The situation is rife for either total disintegration, or the emergence of a new and powerful political party.

This will happen if President Duterte now seizes the opportunity and the challenge to establish his own political party, and invite membership not just from politicians but also from the citizenry.

Ironically, Sara Duterte may be a step ahead of her father in thinking seriously about party development.

ASEANEWS EDITORIAL & CARTOONS:.

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