"THE PROBLEM REALLY is the presidential system itself, which is structured for such capricious use of power. The concentration of so much power in one person lends itself easily to both abuse and whimsy. As Joel Rocamora of the Institute for Popular Democracy writes, “The Philippine presidency is an extremely powerful position, even more powerful than its model, the American presidency. Because of the centrality of patronage for Philippine political parties, the most important powers of the president are his appointing powers and his control over the disbursement of government funds in a highly centralized form of government.”
"The misuse of the power to appoint is most obvious, because appointments are so public and the appointees are rarely shy about waving about their new credentials. If anything, Erap only brings this power to absurd heights. Corazon Aquino used it to appoint relatives and friends, including her dentist and her dermatologist who were named to the UP Board of Regents. Aquino also got carried away with the appointments, sometimes naming as many as seven undersecretaries for one department that Congress eventually passed a law limiting the number of usecs and asecs to only three each per department."
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