Notes on straight and bizarre political designs
PRESIDENTIAL elections in the US are held in November every four years but the date is not provided in the Constitution. We copied this date up to November, 1969, until martial law intervened and called elections at the pleasure of the regime. It called for a snap election in February, 1986, but the results ousted the Marcos government.
Regional representatives Members of the Batasang Pambansa were elected at first by region to insure the total absence of opposition. In Metro Manila, KBL candidates of unknown origin defeated their more popular opponents. Election by district abolished Instead of electing representatives by district, the martial law decree provided that all Batasan members should represent a region. If Region VI (Western Visayas) was represented by 15 representatives before martial law all of them were to be elected by all voters in the region, NOT in individual provinces of Negros Occ., Iloilo, or Antique. A KBL candidate of Antique was forced to wage a region-wide campaign in Negros Occ., Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, and his home province. In this design, the opposition candidate had no chance of getting votes from outside his home province if he was not a KBL.
A bizarre plan This bizarre plan is not supported by any accepted doctrine in political science. It was meant to corner votes for the benefit of one administration party. In 1984, another decree directed a return to election of Batasan members by district. The KBL candidates lost their shirts in Metro Manila. Justice Cecilia Munoz-Palma won a seat in Quezon City without kissing babies and shaking hands.
The Batasan was abolished by President Cory’s revolutionary government and she appointed a Constitutional Commission with Justice Palma as president.
May is election month Since the first election of senators and House members in May, 1987, the election month in May has not been changed. The period January to May is seen as free of storms and heavy rains that can stop candidates, especially the new faces, from campaigning.
No party switching In the US, there is no prohibition against campaigning for two years as they are doing now. Candidates don’t cross party lines the way we do. Members of the Electoral College are prohibited by the Constitution to elect a Republican president and a Democratic Vice President (Art. XII). In November, 1957, Filipino voters elected NP President Carlos P. Garcia and LP Vice President Diosdado Macapagal.
It was more fun
Macapagal was not given a Cabinet job by the NP administration, but found more fun travelling to all parts of the country. Four years of shaking hands and kissing babies gave the vice president clear political advantage. In November, 1961, NP President Garcia lost the presidency to LP VP Macapagal.
Party shopping
For the November, 1965, presidential election, one LP aspirant was Ferdinand Marcos. There was no way for Marcos to win the LP nomination against LP Macapagal as a sitting president. There was a precedent for one popular candidate to quit his party and join the opposition in the case of LP Ramon Magsaysay who won the NP nomination for the November, 1953, election against LP President Quirino.
Treason
Switching party affiliation in Japan, France, and Britain is the moral equivalent of treason. Hillary Clinton cannot aspire for the presidency with full or partial support from the major parties.
A new party
In the latter part of 1945, NP Senate President Manuel A. Roxas bolted his party and formed the Liberal Party. NP loyalists in the Solid North led by Senator Elpidio Quirino and Rep. Eugenio Perez joined the new party. The team of Roxas-Quirino won the election on April 23, 1946, and assumed office on May 28, 1946. Roxas was the last Commonwealth president and the first president of the Republic. (Comments are welcome at roming@pefianco.com).