‘President Aquino should recognize PH’s real problems’
(Inquirer) Published: August 2, 2014
President Benigno Aquino III is in the best position to push reforms, but many local political reform advocates think the President does not even recognize the country’s real problems.
Chief among these problems is the need to establish real political parties as today’s political dealings are with individual legislators, and no longer with political parties.
A rare gathering of respected professionals from the academe and civil society was held recently. The forum’s objective was to jump-start a series of round-table discussions on various political reform advocacies in light of the recent scandals in government, and the approaching national elections in 2016.
The forum was organized by CitizenWatch, an independent network of professionals which advocates the interests of not just the less privileged sector, but also of society as a whole. It aims to create change by shaping political debate and advocating institutional change through strategic research, systemic analysis.The forum was also held with the participation of Democracy Watch Philippines (DemWatch),a social initiative of Stratbase Research Institute.
What alarmed the participants in the recent forum was the depth of pessimism regarding the possibility of political reforms in the next two years, the last portion of Mr. Aquino’s presidency.
The organizers led by professor Dindo Manhit, convener of CitizenWatch, said they saw a pressing need for a different or higher level of debate in terms of what legal reforms and changes in governance were needed in the Philippines.
“We can get ideas together. This time, we challenge the government in the two years remaining in the administration, and we challenge it toward transparency and their promises made in 2010,” Manhit said.