Junk all candidates pushing Cha cha!

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
by William M. Esposo
from The Philippine Star

Despite all the remedies to wipe them out, vermin simply keep resurfacing. Despite the absence of a real reason that will justify the revision of the 1987 Constitution, these vermin pushing for Charter change (Cha cha) will not stop promoting what many Filipinos suspect is a self serving political agenda.

The 1987 Constitution was created by the Spirit of EDSA, the 1986 People Power Revolution which became one of the proudest moments of Philippine history. Last December, we saw one of the finest features of the 1987 Constitution — the new rules for the declaration of martial law — at work.

Under the 1935 Constitution which allowed Ferdinand E. Marcos to impose martial law in 1972, Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo GMA) could have gotten away with the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao. The discussions during the December 9 and 10 Joint Session of Congress on Presidential Proclamation (PP) 1959 which imposed martial law in Maguindanao displayed the wisdom of the guidelines of the 1987 Constitution.

Under the guidelines of the 1987 Constitution, GMA had absolutely no legal ground for imposing martial law in Maguindanao. It became quite obvious that her PP 1959 would have compelled the Supreme Court to shoot it down, just as the High Court shot down her PP 1017 in 2006. GMA quickly terminated PP 1959 — a move many think was meant to pre-empt and discourage a Supreme Court rejection.

The vermin who are promoting Charter change, like the devil quoting scripture and the serpent that caused Adam and Eve to fall from grace, are luring Filipinos with economic incentives that their Cha cha purports to deliver. They call it economic reforms and one of these that they are offering is the generation of foreign investments by allowing foreigners to purchase and own land here. Only an idiot, one who does not know the truth, will buy that.

China and Vietnam attract the bulk of foreign investors in Asia and both China and Vietnam do not allow foreigners to own land in their country. So why should we when that will only make property prices skyrocket beyond the levels that Filipinos can afford? So why should we allow foreigners to buy and own land here when there is not even enough for our expanding population?

The truth is foreigners are not lured by laws allowing them to own land but by level playing fields and big markets that deliver hefty returns on investments. In fact, the vermin promoting Cha cha are some of the biggest disincentives to foreign investments coming here.

What rational investor will want to operate here where the laws are subjectively implemented and whimsically altered to suit narrow interests? What rational investor will want to operate here where we are rated as high risk for a social explosion owing to the poverty situation which fuels social unrest and insurgency?

The 1987 Constitution set the direction for dismantling political dynasties but the same type of vermin promoting Cha cha did not pass an enabling law. The 1987 Constitution was clearly a legacy of Cory Aquino to her people. The proposed Cha cha is nothing more than another attempt of the vermin who are trying to kill all vestiges of People Power and perpetuate GMA in power.

The Pulse Asia December 3, 2009 media release showed that 79% of Filipinos will not vote for GMA’s presidential candidate in the May 2010 elections. That passion against GMA’s presidential candidate must be extended to all 2010 candidates for all elective public offices who are pushing for Cha cha.

The Information and Education Gaps in our country created the wrong impression among many Filipinos that the bulk of our problems can be solved by electing a good president. Many Filipinos are unaware that a nationalistic, independent and honest legislature (Senate and Congress) is the key to making democracy work.

A Senate and Congress that will allow a crooked president to get away with high crimes — likely with big personal incentives for doing so — results in a failure of democracy. Have we not seen a lot of that with the GMA regime?

GMA has provided more than enough reasons to be impeached, the Constitutional remedy for removing bad presidents and presidents who stole an election. Did our Congressmen impeach GMA?

Erring and stealing public officials are supposed to be made to account by the Ombudsman. Well, the current Ombudsman had also provided more than enough reasons to be impeached by her inaction on some of the biggest corruption cases of the GMA regime. But did our servile GMA Congress allies impeach the unresponsive Ombudsman? They did not.

Our democracy failed because the principle of check and balance was betrayed by a compromised Congress. The truth is much of the sins of the GMA regime could have been prevented or could have already been made to account if GMA’s Congress allies only placed country above pork barrel and those Malacanang Palace gift bags.

GMA’s Congress allies have proved themselves to be the most insensitive to public opinion — to the point of arrogance. In the Senate, even GMA allies like Senator Miriam D. Santiago have taken opposing positions to regime actions and proposals like PP 1959 and the Visiting Forces Agreement.

From all indications, GMA’s anointed presidential candidate will not win the 2010 presidential elections — an understatement really. It had gotten so bad for the GMA regime, that there have been a lot of whispers all over town, from usually reliable sources, that GMA has transacted a deal already with a more competitive presidential candidate, one posturing as from the Opposition.

If Filipinos really want meaningful change and reform, then all public officials associated with the GMA regime, especially those who are pushing for Cha cha, must be junked. Only then can Filipinos expect a new dawn of democracy and an earnest pursuit of social justice to take place in our country.

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Chai Wrecker e-mail and website: macesposo@yahoo.com and www.chairwrecker.com