The Fourth Perspective

Up until now, the Philippine Navy is way far behind its south-east Asian counterpart in as far as naval assets are concerned. Currently, it is merely operating three Ex-US coastguard cutters armed with 76 mm cannons and two cargo vessels from Indonesia which were recently added to handle its transport needs, it goes without saying, that the Philippine Navy is unarmed and ill-equipped by world standard. What does that mean? It means, and barring political reasons, no matter what it does, at its present and near future state, it will not be able to fulfill its constitutional mandate, of protecting the Philippine sovereign territory and its sovereign rights. Although two frigates are under construction at the behest of the Philippine's Department of National Defense, its specifications, particularly its weapons payload will make it just a bit more threatening than the Ex-US coastguard cutters, but not enough to instill fear in the heart of any foreign adversary. It will be lightly ar

Will it finally tame the voracious Filipino politicians or will it suck the remaining bond that adheres the Filipinos to one flag? Much has been told about Federalism while the process is being shoved to the Filipino's soring throat. A few have attempted to interpellate its effect on society as a whole, and down the line to the ordinary Juan de la Cruz, but they seemed to be out of focus. Federalism is essentially a departure from the unitary system, wherein government power is centralized. Federalism is basically a form of government that allows power sharing among the states created with the federal government. Each state will have its own legislature, judiciary, and executive component, independent and separate from that of the Federal government. So much so that each state can enact its own laws, impose its own taxes, maintain its own police force and army as the case may be. It can formulate its own economic agenda and policies, execute them to the extent that it will be bene

To answer the foregoing question, one has to dissect the impersonality of an elected president. An elected president was enthroned to power, by the majority of the constituency, under the rules and laws governing the electoral process. The powers bestowed upon an elected president, by the majority of the voting population is subject to the fulfillment of certain duties and obligations defined in the related laws, and by the constitution itself. The latter is the document, that manifest the agreement between the electorate and the elect. Upon being sworn into office, the elected president commits himself to fulfill the mandate, enshrined in the constitution and the appropriate laws and binds himself to uphold and enforce the same. It is under the foregoing conditions that his authority achieves validity. Such authority is in effect ministerial, and incumbent upon his position. It is an authority delegated by the people, limited by the terms and conditions inherent within the charter. A