Speaker Alvarez, a Duterte in the rough
AYEAR ago, a tough-talking, unconventional politician from Davao was catapulted to the national stage. He quickly undertook major political and economic reforms but was a lightning rod for controversy. This sounds like President Rodrigo Duterte, but it could also be his alter ego in the House, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
Alvarez and Duterte are indeed similar in many ways. Both are Mindanaoans, which means they have unique views on what it means to be a Filipino from a land that has consistently been neglected by “Imperial Manila.” They are also lawyers, scrappy types, to whom public service is a better fit than corporate law. Both aren’t from the elite, with Alvarez’s parents, coconut farmers.
As politicians, both are pugnacious but hard-working, opinionated, unafraid to take on the establishment, and quite heedless of criticism. Their fondness for off-the-cuff remarks landed them in hot water so many times. They are also quite open on their complicated personal entanglements, to the chagrin of the conservative bloc.
But while Duterte enjoys a high 82 percent approval rating, Alvarez only garnered a 43 percent rating in June, although this was an improvement from his March numbers. This despite Alvarez’s tremendous job last year of pushing Duterte’s priority measures, including House passage of the comprehensive tax reform program, on which hinges the success of the government’s infrastructure projects.
Traditionally, House speakers have never enjoyed the high popularity numbers of presidents or even of senators. This may be due to the fact that the Lower House is the institution associated with the idea of a “corrupt Congress,” although it can be argued that the Senate should also figure in this notion, given that three of its members are still in jail.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel has a higher approval rating than Alvarez despite the slowness of the Senate in passing many of its own pet bills, such as the one on Freedom of Information (FOI). Its critics say this is because the Senate’s time is eaten up by its favorite activity, the media magnet known as the “public investigations in aid of legislation.”
Foreseeing the Senate’s sluggish ways, Duterte just days in office signed Executive Order No. 2, an “FOI” for the executive branch that affirmed his vow of transparency. In order to widen the coverage to other branches of government, the Senate still needs to pass a proper FOI law.
Pimentel’s Senate is also expected to take its sweet time on the death penalty bill, which Alvarez’s House easily passed in March. The Senate has also failed to approve the administration’s request for emergency powers to deal with the transportation crisis, especially the traffic problem in Metro Manila.
The President’s displeasure with the Upper Chamber could be gleaned from his spontaneous remarks during his second State-of-the-Nation Address where he appeared to twit Senator Grace Poe for not acting on the traffic emergency powers, and in classic Duterte style, kidded Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, for his seeming nonsupport of the government’s tax reform plan while blithely reminding him of the upcoming elections.
When Duterte was elected president, his first choice as speaker of the House was Alvarez, his close friend and the one who paved the way for his presidency. It is now part of political lore how Alvarez patiently waited for his friend to change his mind, showing him videos of people wanting him to run for president, even as he arranged for a partymate to file a certificate of candidacy with Duterte later filling up the slot as a substitute candidate.
Duterte’s confidence in Alvarez is proving to be well-placed. He is now his strongest ally in government, the one carrying the weight of his legislative and reform agenda. In its first session that ended recently, the House produced 210 legislative measures on third and final reading, or an average of two bills per session day. Among the bills the House passed: granting free college education in state universities and colleges; free Internet access in public places all over the country; and extending the validity of the driver’s license to five years.
Alvarez has taken on his job with gusto, instilling discipline among congressmen notorious for their chronic absenteeism. Today tardy legislators are barred from entering the session hall and the speaker’s office has limited the issuance of travel authorities. Alvarez and his whip, Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, are always seen in committee hearings which, they said, encourages attendance among the congressmen and shows the House leadership at work.
This year, the House plans to pass even more significant and controversial bills such as the shift from a unitary to a federal form of government, the Bangsamoro Basic Law, and the dissolution of marriage with a separate bill allowing same-sex civil unions, the latter two of which Alvarez vows to personally file.
With his strong work in Congress, Alvarez is able to ride through the criticism of his off-the-cuff remarks, including saying that the Court of Appeals should be abolished. But there is more to this statement of his, which is essentially a critique of the current judicial system and its slow dispensation of justice. It was a Duterte-style remark that was unfortunately delivered without the President’s sly humor.
Alvarez’s key idea, which even Senator Pimentel said he has been studying as well, is to speed up the judicial process by dissolving the CA and allowing regional trial courts to send their appealed cases straight to the Supreme Court. As things stand now, the constant appeals have been blocking the fast disposition of cases. Sounds good and is worthy of further study. Alvarez may be rough around the edges but he has the right stuff, just like his friend Duterte.