Every Filipino voter has to be mindful of the candidates she votes for, for voting is a means of putting her sovereignty into the hands of the one she votes for. Politicians who decide to buy the votes of the electorate with money have no regard or respect for the sovereignty of the people, a vote a sacred choice worth more than money. Voting to surrender one's sovereignty to another person is a serious decision making. It is giving our will, our power, our authority, our sovereignty to someone, for a nation becomes what its citizens vote for. The electorate have to move beyond mere party names, slogans, and adverts, and critically assess the proposals the parties have put on the table to tackle the developmental challenges of the nation. We, the electorate, should not allow the monetary and other material inducements to influence the choices we will make. The change is in us.
To esteem our legislators well, it is good that we know the roles they carry out.
Hereunder, I have listed here the roles our senators and representatives have. This may enlighten you, as regards the incoming Philippines national elections in May.
Well, senators and representatives function in many capacities as they discharge the numerous duties of their office. All of their accountabilities may be seen as apt into four key roles: policymaker, constituent servant, representative, and pundit.
Policymaker
This is the most important role for any member of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators and representatives cast a lot of votes each session. Most votes are on procedural matters, some are on legislative issues, and a few are on appointments and confirmations.
Tax cuts, health care reform, and entitlement spending are just a few of the issues that members vote on every year, with fiscal implications running in the billions of pesos. When it comes time for re-election, most members – mainly senators – are judged on their voting record by the voters.
Every senator and representative needs to be generalists, understanding something about almost everything – global warming, urban poor, commodity programmes, medicine, IT, flowers, conversion of a state college to a university, and much, much more.
Constituent Servant
This is a less conspicuous and desirable role than law-making, but for House members above all it can be equally as important come re-election time. Members are expected to get involved on behalf of their constituents to help solve problems, endorse local businesses and trade, bring money and projects back to the district, and explain the meaning of legislation to affected interest groups. House members tend to pay closer attention to constituent casework than do their upper chamber counterparts.
Representative
Much as it sounds, this role relates to the legislator's duty to understand and represent the views of their constituents in Pasay City or Quezon City – one of the foundations of a pro-republic government. Members commonly adopt one of two tactics when discharging their representative duty.
Senators take a broader or ‘trustee’ view of representation, meaning that they put the interests of the country before the narrow needs of a city or district or province where they come from.
Other members (most often representatives) believe that their votes should replicate the views of their constituents, even if it's at variance with their own philosophies. Most members will vary their approach depending on the issue.
Pundit
As a final point, members have a duty to edify the public about the issues that are before the Legislative body. They characteristically keep their constituents cognisant through newssheets, office hours in the district, city hall meetings, direct mail, and media guestings. Some of the much keener members will use committee or subcommittee hearings as a way to fire up public opinion and ‘educate’ the body of voters to their particular (every so often subjective) standpoint.
For more information, visit http://www.senate.gov.ph/ and http://www.congress.gov.ph/.
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