Let’s give GMA a chance to make things work!

No doubt, last Wednesday, June 30, 2004, was a historic day for Cebu and because we sent our column at 5 p.m. that day, we were not able to report another historic event which was unfolding also by that time: the proclamation and eventual oathtaking of Cebu’s first woman governor, Gwendolyn Garcia. We’d been watching the elections for Cebu governor very closely and Cebu really expected that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would finally rule on this very tight race and yes, they did so at the nth hour. Hence, Gov. Gwen’s proclamation was virtually overshadowed by the also historic ceremonies last Wednesday.

So now that the former Capitol consultant is now Cebu’s governor, the big question begging for an answer is "Can she govern?" Firstly, her political rival, former Agriculture Undersecretary Celestino "Junnie" Martinez Jr., who is still smarting from this very slim defeat (a little over 7,000 votes only), intends to vigorously pursue his electoral protest in an effort to unseat Gov. Garcia.

What is worrisome in the province of Cebu (vis-a-vis Cebu City’s Mayor Tommy Osmeña whose BO-PK party won all the City Council seats) is that Gov. Garcia is facing a hostile provincial board. Vice Gov. Greg Sanchez and 10 out of the 15 board members of Cebu province are allies of Junnie Martinez and so unless there is some kind of political compromise in the next three years and despite Cebu’s being in good graces with Malacañang, I fear that the province might just stagnate.

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I got a lot of text messages informing me that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) had Cebu all but fooled… that the promised federalism that we’ve been batting for isn’t going to happen and that after all, GMA won’t be a transition President as promised prior to the elections. Of course, I texted back my friends that they’re just so eager to change the government with lightning speed and being a realist, I believe change would come, not as a promise of the President, but as something that the executive and legislative branches of government must work at together. Indeed, people tend to forget that in the euphoria of GMA’s winning the presidency, she controls only the executive branch and she has to play ball with the legislative branch.

For the skeptics, let me point out that in Butuan City, President Arroyo met the members of Save Our Languages Through Federalism (Solfed) who wore T-shirts, and they were the only visible non-government organization (NGO) to meet her. It was there where she mentioned about her call for a Constitutional Convention (con-con) and a shift to a parliamentary system.

Sure, she didn’t make mention about this shift in the government in her inaugural address at the Quirino Grandstand nor during her oathtaking in Cebu City because she didn’t make any speeches there. If you remember, her visit to Butuan City was part and parcel of her inaugural sortie and yes, I believe that the President is sincere about her goals. Just give her time, okay?

The problem with most of us is we’re already too impatient to have such reforms. Frankly speaking, I too am just as impatient as the rest of you, but I have always believed in that dictum, "Haste makes waste!" Just look at what haste brought this country when during the first EDSA Revolt, 50 pro-Cory people concocted our kilometric Constitution and ended up bringing back our old pre-martial law problems… like the oligarchy and the dictatorship’s new creation called "cronyism." Back in 1986, together with then Vice President Salvador "Doy" Laurel, UNIDO was calling for a Constitutional Convention to redo what Marcos had destroyed in this fragile democracy!

Now with the euphoria of a new GMA administration, we ought to warn people about making rash or hasty decisions because when they become permanent, they would be difficult to undo. But the excited, soon-to-be re-elected House Speaker Jose de Venecia (JDV) is throwing caution to the winds when he called for a Constituent Assembly (con-ass). JDV knows too well that a con-ass is not acceptable to the Filipino people. Let the legislature legislate the laws that are needed to make President Arroyo’s 10-point program work and leave the changing of the Constitution to a duly elected group of con-con delegates.

Finally, I gathered also that my friend, Senate President Franklin Drilon, issued a statement against any Charter change for now because it is "divisive." I would like to believe that Sen. Drilon is seriously misinformed… simply because he didn’t campaign in the last elections. He should first ask his newly elected colleagues like Sen. Mar Roxas or Sen. Richard Gordon before he makes such statements that are contrary to the will of the people who put President Arroyo in Malacañang. Perhaps Sen. Drilon ought to check his friends in Iloilo and there he’ll realize that the Ilonggos are for federalism.

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I was watching President Arroyo on TV during her first Cabinet meeting in Clark and I said to myself, come to think of it, aren’t we glad we have GMA as our President? Had it been FPJ sitting as President, he’d probably take six months to a year just to get hold of the helm of the presidency. After that Cabinet meeting, the President immediately flew to Cagayan to help the typhoon-stricken victims, while Vice President Noli de Castro flew to Ilocos Norte… to think this happened right after their inauguration.

What of FPJ and Sen. Loren Legarda? Well, elections are over and all they care about is their up-and-coming, albeit very expensive electoral protests and the hell if those who voted for them in the North are now suffering from a natural calamity. If you ask me, FPJ would be more the hero of the Filipino people if the money he will use for this protest is spent to help the poor and downtrodden Filipino. But then, does he really care?

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One of the big stories we’ve been writing about in the past month is the very controversial International Ship and Port Security Code (ISPS), the deadline of which passed last July 1 with no extensions. Well, two weeks ago, when President Arroyo graced the Grand Chamber Awards of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (CCCII), she announced that the Cebu International Port (CIP) was already ISPS-compliant. Unfortunately, when we checked this out, the people who certified this were still inspecting the port. Call it a "woman’s intuition" but by some kind of miracle (or sleight of hand) the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) was able to meet the July 1 deadline. But since that came from the government sector, I guess now it’s time to hear from the business sector… what they think of this. Abangan!

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.