The House of Representatives’ Version of Constitutional Adventurism

On September 28, on a meeting initiated to define the future actions of the House of Representatives was called to order. The meeting was held to discuss the house consideration of the Status Quo Ante Order of the Supreme Court (dated September 14, 2009) and other issues that pertain to SC Order, which includes the reply to the SC order, representation of HoR in the Courts, and the possible action of the Committee with the pending status quo ante order. By lunch time, the Committee decided (with vote of 33 representatives) to set aside the status quo ante order and move on with the impeachment complaint. This article would delve into the implications of such move by the Philippine Legislative Body.

Security Governance: Democratizing the Security Sector

The world’s demand to more responsive, transparent accountable and participative government led to the development of the idea of ‘good governance’. Some countries, particularly in Western Europe, have been successful in integrating them into various facets of government, like security administration. Despite the moves to inculcate governance principles into the Philippine government, there are little or no moves to do such in its security sector. The Philippine security sector remains restricted and reactive which is mirrored by the manner by which security administration is handled by the Philippine government. With too many sociopolitical, economic and environmental vulnerabilities and security considerations, maybe the Philippines should start integrating governance principles in the security sector to make it more responsive to the calls of changing times.