One day I would be President

One day I would be President

Twenty-odd years or so ago, I, just like any ordinary public elementary student, would dream inside the classroom. I dreamt that one day I would be a great president just like Marcos. He, who had put up so many projects through his own words alone by virtue of his presidential decrees. One of his creations, which I learned when I was studying in college is the erstwhile Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). I so loved reading out aloud, pretending me to be him, saying, “Now, therefore, I, Ferdinand E. Marcos, President of the Philippines by virtue of the powers vested in me by the constitution as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines and pursuant to Proclamation 1081 dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1 dated September 22, 1972 as amended, do hereby order and decree:…(excerpted from PD 223 which was later repealed by RA 8981)” and because he said it, it became so.

And so for me, martial law was the time that numerous projects were made and myriads of laws were passed by only one person, which I believed most of his infrastructure projects were up to international standards since they are still in existence up to today (unlike the kind that our congressman or senator had proposed which either did not materialize or took longer to complete or even materialized but did not live up to expectations).

And so, now more than ever I aspire to become the president of my not so god-forsaken country and for once, I decry that whatever it is that my government is doing, I can no longer bear.

When I become president, (after rendering it under martial law of course) here is my wishlist:

1. Dissolve parliament and all government agencies and instrumentalities (except for LGU)

-          This is to decrease government spending which will eventually be corrupted anyway so why bother fattening public servants who are not serving the public anyway. The PRC will then become inutile by 2015, since we have already signed to the ASEAN 2015 accord that a free flow of workers will be coming into the ASEAN market with notable competencies as that of their local counterparts – meaning if one Singaporean librarian comes to apply in the Philippines (wishful thinking, who would want to apply by then?), even if he is not licensed by PRC, he will be given the same opportunity as that of a licensed practitioner.

-          Why remove state agencies? What’s their purpose for anyway when in the end, the minds will not be the feet and hand to do the work (insert your favorite government agency here – Customs, DPWH, CHED/DepEd, DOH, and so on, pun intended). Let the LGU in each barangay have their own RHU, each municipality with each own hospital and other services. Don’t we need a Commission on Audit? Yes we do. It will be taken care of a barangay commission made up of locals who know the people and how it will be spent. No better oversight than those who are really at the helm of things. If they see a project delayed or other irregularity, they will immediately report it to their chairmen and mayors.

-          Why dissolve Congress? If barangays already have their own council then they can write their own laws/ordinances as they deem necessary for their improvement. That way, we don not need a congressman/senator who will only need to fill their offices with non-Civil Service Eligible inexperienced next of kins who will transact anomalously with other agencies. What is for the people would be given to the people.

2. Put a term limit of three years for all political/elective appointments.

-          Why the need for a fixed 3-year term limit? Enough of political dynasties. Public service is a public office. Anybody can be afforded the opportunity to serve their communities. In doing so, we will not perpetuate oligarchs their freedom to steal our hard-earned taxes in the treasury. Once is enough. If they really are sincere in their desire to serve the public, they must also allow other people to experience the same. That way, nobody can say only the rich can rule. This is also one way of allowing our people not to leave the country because they can also serve their communities if they stay and be appreciated for their deeds.

3. Subsidize farming/fishing.

-          The Philippines is foremost an agricultural country so I am perplexed why most realtors develop agricultural lands. But then again, who would want to farm, when you have to be exploited on your meager space of land and have to wait months before you can sell your produce? Farmers and fishermen don’t feel the appreciation from us, because all we want is to have a fixed income by the 15^th or 30^th (Only on February we get it in on the 28^th unless its leap year, insert sarcasm here hehe). In order to declog the metropolis, people need to see the value of this primary industry and the due recognition awarded to those who toil our lands and seas. This is for our self-sufficiency in rice and other basic food.

Of course, after all these, I can always wake up and see such chaos as a reality. But then again, I can dream.