Time to pass bill making political parties ‘programmatic’—Angara

MANILA, Philippines—Senator Edgardo Angara on Tuesday pushed for the immediate passage of a bill that seeks to establish an institutionalized party system in the country, saying the bill “is already mature and ripe for passage.”

If enacted into law, Angara said the bill would make political parties “issue-oriented” and “programmatic.”

“It will make political parties programmatic, which means they will not be recognized unless they’re a program of government,” Angara explained.

The proposed legislation, he said, would also address the problem of “turncoatism,” which he said should not be encouraged or tolerated “since it distorts the concept of word of honor and dignity of a leader.”

“That’s part of public behavior of the Filipino politician, patalon-talon (always jumping [form party to party]). But we hope that with the adoption of the law, political parties will become programmatic,” Angara said.

Angara noted that debates on the proposed legislation started during the 11th Congress and was even passed by the House of Representatives during the 12th Congress.

“So I think this measure is already mature, ripe, for passage,” he told reporters after the joint hearing of the Senate committees on constitutional amendments, and finance. Angara is chairman of the subcommittee on political party.

Senator Angara expressed confidence that this time, the proposed legislation would be approved by Congress “because I think it’s less controversial, yet equally substantive, if not more substantive than some of (other) measures.”