The Arroyo administration has a fighting chance to convince the senators to agree to Constitutional change before the 2007 elections, Senator Edgardo Angara, who is batting for a parliamentary form of government, said yesterday.

"I think that the position of the Senate will harden after the 2007 elections, because in 2007, the opposition will sweep the Senate, therefore there will be more oppositors," Angara said, at a press conference in Bacolod City yesterday.

Right now the administration has the majority of the senators as its allies in the Senate, he said.

Angara said the parliamentary system of government is the mother of democracy and the presidential system is the father of dictatorship.

All of the Latin American countries that used to have the presidential forms of government ended up with dictators, he pointed out.

Angara said he has been a parliamentarian since 1971 when he was elected to the Constitutional Convention.

"I am strongly for a parliamentary government because it will be more dynamic, it can act more quickly on problems," he said.

"It will also address the almost impossibly high cost of running for national posts," he said, pointing out that, to run for president, one needs P10 billion at least, P100 million to be senator, and P20 to P50 million for a Congressional seat.

In a parliamentary system you will not spend that much because that parliament or congress may be dissolved the following day for lack of confidence, he said.

In a parliamentary system it is also the party that pays for the election so the personal pressure on candidates is much less, he said.

It will mean less money-politics and less corruption, he said.

Under a parliamentary system political parties are also strengthened and it opens up more opportunities for younger people to become leaders, he said.

Angara said the bishops want change through a Constitutional Convention, the administration and some in the opposition want it done through a Constituent Assembly, and House Speaker Jose de Venecia wants it through a people's initiative.*CPG

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