Restore the old Senate

By Dr. Clement C. Camposano

With all the wayward drama at the Philippine Senate this past week and a half, most people will likely focus on the personalities behind the series of unfortunate events. What will be missed, I think, is the fact that all these occurred against the backdrop of the Upper Chamber’s flawed institutional design. Things do not happen in a vacuum, so they say. What this really means, or should mean, is that we need to look beyond the dramatis personae, the so-called cast of characters, and understand how events are shaped by the way institutions are put together. Since all our senators are elected at large – i. e., elected nationally like the president and the vice president – the Senate will always be a hive of politicians who not only have quite an appetite for media attention, but also designs on the presidency. Who could blame them? Elected by the same nationwide constituency as the president, why should not one entertain the thought of being elected president one day?

Presidential ambition or not, the sheer width and breadth of this vast constituency explains the need for constant public attention on the part of our senators, sometimes at the expense of good political sense and sensibility. Air time, after all, is increasingly expensive. A troll army is not cheap either. To remain in the chamber, a senator needs to inhabit the headlines and be a fixture in the public mind. To move up the ladder, he or she must do more. The future presidential contender must captivate, enchant, or, at the very least, fascinate. Hence, the theatrics, although it is often “A” for effort. Perhaps it is in the nature of genuine political talent to be rather scarce?

Which brings me to my second point. It was not always this way. When our founding leaders decided to copy the the American Senate, the resulting Jones Law of 1916 provided for a Senate that was elected on the basis of senatorial districts. We did not have states, so we cut up the country into 12 senatorial districts with each district represented by two senators, which now explains why we have 24 of them. These districts would eventually evolve into the present-day regions, although we have since added a few more regions to the original twelve.

This bicameral set up was abandoned under the 1935 Constitution when the country experimented with a unicameral legislature. Then, in 1940, President Quezon, ever so wily and masterful, engineered a constitutional amendment that restored the Senate. What he “restored”, however, was a nationally elected Senate and not the one based on the Jones Law of 1916 where senators were elected by senatorial districts. Indeed, it was a different animal altogether. This new Senate was not only seen as a restraint on the popular passions often associated with larger representative bodies, which is what the US Senate was supposed to be. The Philippine Senate was also promoted by Quezon and his partisans as a “training ground” for national leaders.

What was Quezon’s political motive? To put it another way, what was he to gain from this? Ironically, it was an attempt to consolidate power. In the 1940s, there was no national media to speak of, and the most viable way to get elected to a national body like the Senate was to be in the President’s ticket. This allowed the senatorial candidate to access the resources of the government bureaucracy so necessary for campaigning across the Philippine archipelago. As history would have it, the following election saw all 24 of Quezon’s nominees elected to the Senate – a fitting complement to his overwhelming domination of the Lower House. A master stroke of constitutional engineering: One-man rule without declaring martial law or assuming dictatorial powers.

Today, however the situation is vastly different. The assumptions made in the 1940s no longer apply. You no longer need the resources of the bureaucracy to mount a strong national campaign. A rambunctious national media exists and the digital wilderness of the internet is wide open. What is now needed to win and keep a Senate seat is national prominence, high awareness and trust survey ratings, and massive amounts of cash to fund a nationwide campaign and sustain temporary local alliances. Somewhere in this mix you will find performative brilliance and a talent for grabbing headlines.

A Senate populated by many potential presidential candidates can certainly present the executive branch with a variety of political and legislative challenges, and especially where the president is allowed only one term. Denied reelection, the ability of the chief executive to maintain the alliance cobbled together at the beginning of the administration’s term, and to direct its work, is inevitably impaired by the discordant agendas of senators eyeing a presidential run and the president’s own impending exit from power.

Which brings me now to my final point. One way to attain political coherence, and spare the country from the interminable media circus that the Senate has become, is to return to the design of the Old Senate and again elect senators by region. Aside from greater sobriety, what are the other benefits of this? Certainly, the talent pool is instantly enlarged. There are many good leaders in the regions who might not have the “top-of-mind” recall enjoyed by national politicians, but have wisdom and wit to enrich policymaking. Also, the Senate and the President will no longer be at loggerheads since their constituencies are not identical. It will be harder for regionally elected senators to entertain presidential ambitions given their association with specific regions, which could mean more cohesive legislation.

Lastly, a regional senate will mean a more equitable system of representation. Mindanao will have more senators, and so will the other regions that have been marginalized by a nationally elected senate. Needless to say, this will have a profound effect on the way decisions are made in this country. A firm and secure voice for the regions, that may well serve as a mechanism for democratizing power and wealth.

Of course, the more exasperated among us might now want to abolish the Senate altogether.

The author is the Chancellor of UP Visayas (Miagao and Iloilo City campuses).