The Philippine Online Chronicles

The impeachment trial of Chief Justice Corona has been all over the headlines since December last year. Every day, the media has been on a blitz, reporting the ins and outs of the trial developments. After the trial proceedings, the senator judges and other participants of the trial are even interviewed to express their opinions or clarify certain matters.

With all the people’s attention on the trial, what’s going on with the government?

Vast economic issues need to be addressed

It’s not enough for the Aquino administration to go after the perceived kurakots and the bad guys. They cannot just keep all their efforts focused on removing the appointees of the previous administration.

The Aquino administration has the burden of continuing the momentum of the economy by stimulating investments, cutting back unnecessary spending, creating jobs and passing laws that would make the economic environment in the country more conducive and viable.

The country’s economy grew by a dismal 3.7% in the last quarter of 2011. Compare this to the numbers in 2010, when the economy grew by 7.6%. The gross national income (GNI) went down from 8.2% to 2.6% annual growth rate. Because of this, the GDP per capita declined to 1.8% in 2011, down from 5.6% in 2010.

As much as the Filipinos hated the former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, she certainly knew how to work the economy and the numbers to bring in the most consecutive number of months of unprecedented growth.

On the other hand, as much as Filipinos love President Aquino, he seems ill equipped to keep up the economic momentum and may in fact be affecting the long-term economic health of the country. His primary focus has been dealing with corruption and this is taking a toll on the country’s economic health.

These numbers are disturbing and should be addressed immediately. The economy is slowly contracting rather than expanding. If nothing is done to address the economic situation, we may find ourselves in a recession and not have the means to resist the impact of a global recession.

The trial is counterproductive

In the House of Representatives, the attendance of the congressmen has started to become affected. This was revealed by House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II.

Since the trial started last January 16, the attendance in the Lower House has continued to dwindle.

Why is this important for the people? Because if there aren’t enough people in the House, then a quorum can’t be reached to vote on bills. This means that bills can’t be passed and the House is basically wasting taxpayers’ money since nothing is getting done.

The problem in the House is that a lot of congressmen show up for the roll call but then leave eventually. Most of the congressmen are also so engrossed on the proceedings relating to the trial, they are unable to be present for voting and discussion on the pending bills.

House Minority Rep. Danilo Suarez has reiterated that the impeachment proceedings would be counterproductive. True to his prediction, since the start of the impeachment trials, the attendance in Congress hasn’t been sufficient to reach a quorum. At the same time, everyone seems to want to end early since there was no quorum anyway.

Inordinate focus on the trials

According to Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, the “inordinate focus” of the Aquino government to bring the chief justice down and remove him from the Supreme Court is seriously affecting the legislative work that needs to be done, thereby taking its toll on the economy.

“The collateral damage of the impeachment proceedings on governance and legislation is becoming inevitable,” according to the congressman. “While the national growth has plunged to 3.7 percent last year, which is much slower than the 7.6-percent gross domestic product [GDP] expansion in 2010.”

Lagman continues by saying that the “number of hungry Filipinos has escalated to 4.5 million from 4.1 million last September, the Aquino administration has marshaled its time and resources to an agenda of ousting the Chief Justice.”

Much work to be done

Right now, one of the bills pending in the lower house is the Whistle-blowers’ Act. Congress is also trying to make amendments to the Witness Protection Program law. However, these haven’t been given proper attention, much less voted on and passed.

In the Upper House, the Senators are trying to tackle amendments to the Constitution to help stimulate the economy. The priority bills in senate that deal with stimulating the economy are being dealt with in the Upper House.

Lagman has been quoted saying, “Major legislations stagnate as congressional prosecutors and senator-judges have assumed new roles outside of their traditionally mandated legislative functions.” Instead of using the time to work on important laws needed, the time and attention of the lawmakers are divided between legislative work and holding an impeachment proceeding.

In the Upper House, the senators are trying to work on the passage of economic bills. There is also the Reproductive Health Bill that needs to be passed, aside from the changes to the educational system and other bills of national interest.

Measures to offset the effect

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has reassured the public that the Senate is still busy tackling priority bills. In fact, the senators even spend the morning session discussing pending bills and spend the afternoons acting as judges for the impeachment trial.

The Senate is considering cutting back the impeachment hours so they can tackle more work. Instead of doing the hearings from 2pm to 6pm, the Senate may end the trial by 5pm from Monday to Thursday. The senators are more realistic about the burden that the trials have imposed on them.

This is the reason why Senator Enrile is pushing for the prosecution and defense team to work out the number of witnesses as well as properly prepare the documents that will be submitted to the court, before the start of the trial.

Don’t forget the big picture

While it’s commendable that the government is trying to clean house, we hope the Aquino administration doesn’t lose sight of the big picture.

In trying to go after one man or a handful of perceived cronies, don’t throw the entire country’s economy down the drain. A good government should be able to multitask and succeed at both.

Photo by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some rights reserved.