Gonzales to push for parliamentary system, better political leaders

Former Defense Secretary and presidential aspirant Norberto Gonzales said that he will advocate for a charter change and adopt either a pure parliamentary or a presidential-parliamentary hybrid system of government should he win the May 9 polls.

In a statement on Monday, Gonzales bared his political reform policy for a “cautionary prelude to the possible adoption of federalism” in the country.

“A more mature political system that produces political leaders who can better lead and serve Philippine society and its people is the system that is sorely lacking,” Gonzales said.

He then stressed that changing the charter will allow the Philippine government to economically prepare its regions for the possibility of becoming states.

As he eyes on declaring all regions as autonomous regions, Gonzales said that it is vital to determine which of the regions have capacity to be “economically viable” before they shift as states.

“This change of government system will simplify the executive and legislative functions of government under one branch. We favor the unicameral form in both versions under consideration,” Gonzales said.

He also vowed to affirm the constitutional provisions governing relations between the church and the state, emphasizing on “enhancing the pursuit of national harmony and the mutuality of respect between and among various religions.”

Gonzales also plans on declaring political parties as “constitutionally mandated public institutions” and subject them to both the privileges and restrictions granted to public institutions.

“This means that the electoral system will no longer be a private initiative of politicians but governed by the formal and legal influence of the sovereign people,” he said.

It could be recalled that President Rodrigo Duterte also pushed for a shift to a federal form of government as a means to address economic and power imbalances in the country.

However, his proposal has languished in Congress, which is dominated by his allies.

To pave the way for economic upliftment, Gonzales thus said that his economic policy would focus on equalizing the role of government and the role of the many in economic growth.

“The objective is to expand economic productivity to the many rather than be monopolized by a few,” he said, stressing that an economy under a social democratic system would equalize the access to capital and economic opportunities.

Transportation

As Gonzales plans on making regions autonomous and independently viable economically, he also proposed “radical changes” that would allow people to easily move from one region to another.

He thus said that in making budget provisions in the transport system, he will consider air, water, and land travel equally important.

“This means that other than roads and bridges, our lakes, rivers, and seas between our islands will have docking and water transport facilities. Every major island will have airports,” he said.

Gonzales also vowed that his land use policy will be environment-sensitive and responsive to climate change.

“It shall favor the remaking of our residential areas and the building of new ones. Both our old and new cities will be particular to advance engineering and architectural competence to build and design communities that are both pandemic-ready and prepared to meet potential dangers brought by climate change,” he added.

Agriculture

Further, Gonzales said that his policy on agriculture is aimed to fulfill the requisites of food security, including measures on land classification, agrarian reform, and agriculturally-related debts of farmers from government programs.

“There shall be no limit in the size of privately owned land devoted to agriculture, but agricultural land made idle over a prescribed period, shall be taxed accordingly,” he added.

Under his leadership, he also said that productive agricultural efforts may enjoy tax incentives, subsidies, and grants, while the production of strategic crops will be guaranteed profitability by the state. —NB, GMA News