AFTER seeing the erstwhile ruling Liberal Party (LP) decimated by defections and its headcount cut down to 30, from more than 150 members in the House of Representatives, outgoing Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, a ranking LP stalwart, wants Congress to pass a law imposing stiffer sanctions against turncoats.
Asserting that “political turncoatism should never be encouraged nor tolerated,” Drilon moved to introduce remedial legislation for consideration and approval by members of the 17th Congress in a bid to deter political butterflies who switch party alliance “for convenience.”
Lamenting that “most political aspirants change political parties for convenience, rather than because of conviction,” he said “this only shows the lack of ideological commitment of the members of party because they choose parties based on the rise and fall of the tide of opportunity.”
In filing Senate Bill (SB) 226, Drilon introduced penal provisions barring political turncoats from running under any political party for any elective position in the next succeeding elections after they changed party affiliations.
“They [turncoats] will also refund any and all amounts they received from their political party, including a 25-percent surcharge, the incumbent LP vice chairman said. He noted that, while political parties in the Philippines are normally used as political vehicles to win an election, “the political party system is centered on personalities rather than ideology and political platform.”
To address the aberration, Drilon drew up a political-reform bill aimed at strengthening the political system by deterring party switching and, at the same time, “level the playing field” of political parties.
He stressed it is about time that lawmakers pass a law institutionalizing and strengthening political parties “as pillars of the country’s democratic system.”
Drilon added: “It is imperative that the country’s political party system should be strengthened in order to achieve genuine political development and democratization.”
The senator recalled previous attempts to reform the orientation of political parties in the past “to veer away from the concept of traditional politics,” admitting that “unfortunately, these attempts remain unsuccessful because of lack of legal institutional framework to govern system of political parties.”
He asserted that SB 226, also known as the Political Party System Act, aims to “promote party loyalty, discipline and adherence to ideological principles, platforms and programs.”
Once enacted into law, the senator said the remedial legislation would also provide a state subsidy fund intended to augment campaign expenditures and party development expenses.
“The funds can be used to augment the operating funds of the accredited national political parties for party development, which include, among others, party administration and recruitment, research and policy development, and education and training of members, said Drilon, adding it could also be used to fund campaign expenditures, including traveling expenses of the candidates and support personnel in the course of the campaign.
He said the funds could also be tapped for the hiring of party personnel and secretariat, setting up of headquarters, production and distribution of campaign paraphernalia and other relevant electoral expenses.