Regional elections for the Senate?

May 20, 2007 5:29 PM | 60 Comments | No TrackBacks

I WONDER if anyone (besides me) has ever come with the idea of electing our senators on a per region basis. The way I see it, we can elect 2 senators per region (not sure about the autonomous ones, though). True, it would increase the number of senators we currently have, but I've been thinking of several advantages to this system. For one, the Senate membership will truly be representative of the entire country. As it stands now, majority of our senators are from Luzon, with a sprinkling coming from the Visayas and Mindanao. This will give regions outside Imperial Manila a chance to be adequately represented in the Senate. Second, it reduces the expenses to be shouldered by the candidates, from the actual campaign to the number of watchers they will require, as they would focus their resources in their specific regions rather than the entire country. Less expenses might encourage more deserving but financially-handicapped candidates to come forth and throw their hats in the political arena. It would speed up the canvassing of votes, as the winning candidates can be proclaimed on a regional level rather than on a national level. This "might" also reduce the chances and the scope of dagdag-bawas, making it easier to detect. In the United States, only the presidential/vice-presidential race is conducted on a national level. Their senators are elected per state. It should make sense that our senators also be elected at most on a regional level. It should make the candidates more mindful of their constituents in their respective regions. Just my two centavos' worth...