Here we go again. Just six months after losing power in a landslide election, allies of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo are at it again trying to push their agenda to amend the 1987 Constitution, a move that had been rejected multiple times by the people. Didn’t we say all along that Arroyo would never rest until she gets back to power?
The funny thing about this is that the same politicians who shamelessly tried to force the charter change proposal (cha-cha) down the throats of the people during the latter part of the nine-year reign of Arroyo are the same people who are pushing the cha-cha and who now purport to be newfound allies of President Benigno S. Aquino III.
Rep. Ben Evardonne, who led Arroyo’s charges in pushing for the much-maligned cha-cha movement when he was still governor of Easter Samar and president of the governors’ league, is back on the saddle again in the cha-cha campaign. Evardonne, a former Lakas-Kampi stalwart, now claims to be an ally of Aquino, being a turncoat member of the President’s Liberal Party
Evardonne said last week he would file a bill in the House of Representatives calling for the election of a Constitutional Convention to coincide with the senatorial elections in 2013 for the purpose of amending the Constitution.
He was, of course, just following up on House Resolution No. 8 filed by his former master Arroyo right on the very first day of Congress that called for the convening of a Constitutional Convention, which was co-authored by her son, Camarines Sur Rep. Dato Arroyo.
The funny thing about it is that Evardonne and his fellow new Liberals (is there any difference really, Philippine politics being populated by turncoats and opportunists?) are now using Aquino’s popularity to push an agenda that have been rejected time and again as a move to perpetuate Arroyo in power. Evardonne said that now that Aquino’s trust rating remains at an all-time high, it is the best time to tackle proposed amendments to the Constitution.
The good thing, though, is that Aquino and House Speaker Sonny Belmonte are not buying it. Aquino said, through his spokesmen, that it is not one of the priorities of his administration. Palace spokesmen added that they fear that debates on the cha-cha proposal would distract Congress’ attention from his priority bills and the administration’s goal of combating poverty and corruption.
Belmonte also said that the cha-cha is not among the priorities of the House and that there are more urgent bills that need to be attended to by the body. He said that the issue is “time-consuming and divisive.”
Divisive is actually the key word to why the cha-cha should be repulsed again, cast in cement and dropped in the Philippine Deep where it should lay for a long, long time.
The Aquino administration needs the cha-cha like a hole in the head. Having just emerged from a highly divisive presidential elections and from nine years of abusive and corrupt leadership, the country cannot afford to plunge again into what would certainly be a highly combustible and divisive debate over issues that are not important at this time.
The Aquino administration must steer clear of dangerous depths and currents in its efforts to bring back the country on the right course. Once the cha-cha debates are reignited, the national attention would be focused again on highly political and divisive issues, instead of being concentrated on the two biggest problems at hand – the worsening poverty and corruption.
It doesn’t matter if new economic policies are put in place, or a new form of government installed as long as the whole political system remains corrupt, the country will still not move forward. I fully agree with Vice President Jojo Binay that it is not the constitution that is the problem, but a lack of fair and lawful enforcement of its provisions.
Even if some of the proponents have good intentions, such as former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, there is always the danger that some ill-intentioned individuals and groups would take the opportunity to amend the constitution to suit their ends. Arroyo and her allies, for example, would certainly use all their resources (and they are definitely close to unlimited) to push a shift to parliamentary form of government or removal of term limits on the president and other elective officials, in both cases allowing Arroyo to take a second chance at power.
The US will also definitely grab at a chance to bring back its bases in the country, and foreign interests can lobby for removing limitations to foreign investments and land ownership. Powerful families can remove restrictions on political dynasties or the provisions on agrarian reform.
In other words, reviving the cha-cha would open a can of worms, the Pandora’s box, so to speak. The vultures would again be lurking while the people continue to suffer from the pangs of poverty.
There will be time to amend the constitution, if there really is an urgent need for it. But at this time, it would do well for the government to keep its focus on its fight against poverty and corruption, and veer away from divisive and destructive political exercise.
The people had hoped so much that Aquino would be different from his predecessor, and failing them again could mean irreversible consequences.