‘Unhappy is the land that needs a hero’

By Ellen Tordesillas
Malaya

I’d like Gloria Arroyo and her cabal in the House of Representatives to push charter change to the end.

So what if 64 per cent of Filipinos oppose charter change that would result in Gloria Arroyo staying in power forever? (Only 15 percent agree and 21 per cent are undecided, according to a September-October 2008 survey by the Social Weather Station)

What can those 64 percent, that roughly translates to almost 60 million Filipinos, do? Majority of Filipinos also believe that Gloria Arroyo cheated in the 2004 elections but did they do anything to punish the person who masterminded the thwarting of their will?

Much as I detest the shamelessness of Arroyo,I have to admit that in the seven years that she has been in power, she has ingeniously succeeded in perverting Filipino values producing a docile people that have lost the capacity to be outraged over blatant lying, cheating, and stealing.

Rather than go to the streets and protest unbridled corruption the way the Thais did , Filipinos turn a blind eye, suffer in silence and wait for their reward in heaven.The smarter ones join the corrupt and those who feel frustrated flee the country.

The other day, with the news that hundreds of Filipino workers in Taiwan have lost their job due to the financial crisis, Arroyo blithely said , don’t worry, the Department of Labor said there are job openings in Bulgaria. Yes, the Filipino is going global. Global slaves.

After disposing with dispatch the fourth impeachment complaint against Arroyo, Malacañang allies in the Lower House are now set to tackle the two House Resolutions on charter change. One was filed by House Speaker Prospero Nograles to open the Constitution to amendments that would allow land ownership by foreign corporations and associations and another one by Kampi president Rep. Luis Villafuerte which calls for Congress to convene as a Constituent Assembly to amend the Constitution.

The one filed by Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas which seeks to transfer the elections from May 2010 to May 2011, had been withdrawn, according to Rep. Victor Ortega, chair of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments.

All the three resolutions call for joint voting of the two chambers of Congress which Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile said will render the Senate inutile.

Church personalities led by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines have spoken out against Malacañang’s latest drive for charter change. El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde has said he is opposed to charter change.

The Makati Business Club has issued a statement saying changing the Constitution now is not the answer to the country’s economic problems. It warned of political instability if Malacañang insists on it.

Former President Estrada vows to lead protests against Charter Change. Estrada said he will attend a multi-sectoral anti Cha-Cha rally to be held in Makati on Feb. 12.

Arroyo has remain unperturbed by the opposition to charter change, according to her spokespersons. Analysts say it’s now or never for Arroyo because time is running out for charter change as option for her holding on to power (the other is declaration of emergency rule).

In an article last July, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban sees a tight timetable for Arroyo: congressional approval by Dec. 31, 2008, Supreme Court decision by June 30, 2009, and plebiscite in September 2009.

Panganiban said, “The elections scheduled on the second Monday of May 2010 will then be held for members of the new Parliament, not for president, vice president, or senators. GMA will secure a parliamentary seat in Pampanga and then become prime minister in a Lakas-Kampi-dominated Parliament after her term as president expires on June 30, 2010.”

Arroyo is banking on the people’s apathy that has allowed her to cheat in the 2004 elections and continue in the plunder of government resources to buy the loyalty of her cohorts. I’d like her to push further because I’d like to see how much more degradation Filipinos can take.

There is no question about the people’s hatred for Arroyo. Ask the taxi driver, the street vendor. Yet, people are not coming out for “people power”. One of the reasons forwarded is that there is no rallying figure just like Cory Aquino in 1986.

That is very sad. I’m reminded of a line in Bertolt Brecht’s play, “Life of Galileo”: A former pupil of Galilio remarked, “Unhappy is the land that breeds no hero.” Galileo replied, “No Andrea. Unhappy is the land that needs a hero.”