Atong Ang laya na!

If you are attentive enough you will find a recurring theme in pro-opposition articles: that the people have spoken and they are against President GMA. They ignore the hard facts about the results of the election, with the majority party winning congressional seats overwhelmingly. Impeaching President GMA has become more remote than ever. That is hardly thumbs down for President GMA and her government. No wonder the investors remain upbeat about the Philippines despite the daily barrage of ‘bad news’.  The same goes for the race among governors, mayors and other local authorities. The bulk of Filipino grass roots come from these two constituencies. So it is not true that the people have rejected the administration by voting for opposition senators. Partly maybe but it is not the only contest in the election.

What it did say and this is echoed by responsible analysts here and abroad is that Filipinos (if we are to believe Monday’s elections as the gauge) want to keep the status quo. At the same time, among more educated Filipinos there is an acute awareness that under the present bicameral system the election spells a continuation of gridlock government with the Senate in the hands of the opposition and the Lower House also often referred to as Congress in the hands of the administration. I have heard it straight from local authorities how much they have lost in time and money just following up their bills in the Senate where almost a thousand local bills remained unacted upon. Given the disparity between that awareness of the uselessness of the Senate on one hand and the results of the election which inevitably lead yet again to gridlock on the other, the responsibility for finding a solution inevitably falls on leadership to find a solution.

It is precisely this gridlock that has slowed down the country’s progress. Much is made about the economic strides during the Arroyo government despite an obstructive Senate but that is to miss the point. The cooperation is not in full throttle. We need to leap forward and aim for what we could be without gridlock and how we can be at pace with our neighbors. By the way, all have unicameral parliaments.

Yet a religious charlatan Mike Velarde, an unrepentant purveyor of command votes from his ‘flock’ has the effrontery to suggest through an editorial of an opposition newspaper what the president ought to do after the election: He advises her to do something good for the country. And what was that good? According to this man she must do two things: first, accept the election results, second never revive Charter change. Don’t ever touch Charter change, he adds emphatically. Now these are very revealing statements and confirm what Charter change advocates had said all along. The real purpose of the May 14 election is to stop Charter change by electing more opposition senators to nail down the president even more, make sure her government does not succeed as part of their next campaign when they will vie to become president in 2010.

It is hoped that with the election of opposition senators there will be no Charter change through constituent assembly since it will require the participation of the Senate. In other words we will be back in square one with Filipinos voting against the Constitution’s specific mandate that Congress is empowered to propose Charter changes to be approved by the people in a referendum.

It is well known that Velarde blows hot and cold depending on what suits his materialistic agenda. But to warn President GMA from pursuing Charter change is going a bit too far. Such arrogance should be rejected by the people. By what right does Mr. Velarde who has made a fortune out of El Shaddai votes deem to teach our president what to do? And tell me why should an editorial of an opposition newspaper presume that ‘this is pretty much what the country has decided’?

If he truly understood and respected ‘democracy’ this religious charlatan would not have made such statements. Velarde is not the Filipino people and neither are the editors of that newspaper. Only a plebiscite can reflect what Filipinos want and so far they are being denied even of that very fundamental right of the freedom to choose. Charter change is unfinished business.

He and his patrons reveal their hand when he says, the government can work for ‘economic changes’ but not for changing the political structure. I hope he is amply compensated for firing the first salvo.

*  *  *

Impeaching President GMA is hardly the issue to be feared after the elections. With the overwhelming victory of Lakas and its allied parties any impeachment move has lost wind. It will be difficult if not impossible. With the success of Lakas and its allies in the polls Charter change through constituent assembly has become stronger than ever. That is what Velarde and his ilk are barking at. It will be remembered that this was unfinished business for our lawmakers. It will have to go to the Supreme Court for resolution.

With a powerhouse of the government coalition of political parties in Congress, it can deliver Charter change through constituent assembly. This was a task unceremoniously stopped in the last Congress after the failed people’s initiative just before 13th Congress adjourned. There was a threat of massive protests should it have gone through but we now know it was mere bluff. The resounding victory of Lakas and its allies means only that it has the people’s support should our lawmakers take this route.

That, by the way is the significance of Speaker JDV’s overwhelming victory in Pangasinan. In the proxy war between the protagonists of Charter change, those for Charter change won mightily. If Speaker JDV symbolized Charter change, he has won it for its advocates in Pangasinan. All the machinations against him by Manilans did not dent the Pangasinenses’ resolve that the four-time Speaker return to Congress and finally finish the job.

My email is [email protected]