Erap spokesman warns of social unrest if polls scrapped

The spokesman for detained former President Estrada warned yesterday that "people will rise again" if the proposal of the presidential constitutional commission (con-com) to cancel the 2007 election is approved.

"People will rise again if elections are cancelled in 2007," former Maguindanao congressman Didagen Dilangalen told the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo Hotel forum in Quezon City.

The postponement of elections and the extension of the terms of elected local officials up to 2010 was among the recommendations made by the con-com as part of the transitory provision of the proposed amendments to the Constitution.

Con-com delegate Gerardo Espina, the principal proponent of the "no election" provision, earlier explained that the postponement of the 2007 local elections aims to provide a three-year healing period in preparation for the final shift of the form of government from the present presidential system to a parliamentary-federal system with a unicameral Congress.

Espina said the proposal would also allow President Arroyo to finish her six-year term, which will expire in 2010.

But Dilangalen said canceling the elections would deprive the people of their right to vote — a suspension of the right of suffrage that could trigger another people’s uprising.

He said Filipinos are by nature a gentle people who take life’s challenges with a smile, but he added that Filipinos also value their right to suffrage to the point they may rise up against the government if denied their right to vote.

Dilangalen said former President Estrada also opposes the "no-el" proposal, which Estrada branded as undemocratic.

According to Dilangalen, Estrada said that if the government is serious in addressing the current political problems, then it must not suspend elections.

"Only a credible election can give stability to the government," Dilangalen said. — Perseus Echeminada