Mikey doing Cha-Cha for term extensions

It’s time for the Senate Blue-Ribbon Committee to hire a general counsel, as its rules allow, in unearthing the fertilizer scam. Chairman Dick Gordon seems bent on digging into former undersecretary Jocjoc Bolante’s misuse of P728 million in farm subsidies. He has coaxed agriculture field officers into producing documents to refute Bolante’s obvious lies. Too, the Commission on Audit has detailed the instances of fund mishandling, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council has traced the money trail. But a lawyer is needed to help the committee smoke out the many runners of Bolante and his overpricing favored suppliers. Also, to investigate the 123 congressmen and 54 governors who received P5 million each but pocketed 30 percent for the 2004 election campaign. Further, to suggest which officials and records to summon for a thorough inquiry.

An agency linked to the mess and so must be called in is Livelihood Corp., in which Bolante sat as director. The AMLC has found evidence that Bolante used the state firm to pick the suppliers. If told to explain their role, Livecor officials cannot invoke executive privilege. There’s no diplomatic or security matter at stake, much less presidential conversation — or is there?

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The point is not that presidential son Rep. Mikey Arroyo is quietly leading the Charter Change steamroll. The issue is his aim. It can’t be for federalism; Pampanga, which Arroyo represents, is too close to imperial Manila to be marginalized and so pine for decentralization. It can’t be for lifting of investment restrictions; he never stood for any economic reforms before. It can only be for extending his and mother’s term — by deleting the limits set by the Constitution, or switching to parliamentary to retain seats. Constitutional mangling is the only way they can stay in power beyond 2010 and stave off lawsuits for plunder and war crimes. Imposing martial law is too iffy: it “does not suspend the operation of” term limits (Art. VII, Sec. 18), and risks military rebellion, let alone international rejection.

Hostility to Charter revision arises from distrust. The body language of Arroyo’s Lakas-Kampi party mates exudes insincerity. Only days ago to justify quashing Gloria Arroyo’s impeachment rap, they invoked the need to end politicking and instead shield the land from global financial crisis. But after burying the complaint, they themselves shifted to Charter Change politicking. Salivating for term extensions, they turned deaf to pleas of the Management Association-Philippines to keep their word to address the economic storm. Why, they’re now even plotting to depose Speaker Prospero Nograles for being too slow to form a constituent assembly.

A constituent assembly is itself dubious. The first mode of amending set in the Constitution, it is also the most self-serving. Getting three-fourths of Congress to vote to prolong their own terms is a snap. The Lakas-Kampi nixing of an elected constitutional convention further reveals their greedy intent. Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales fears that legislators may even erase the constitutional provision that forbids political dynasties.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, Catholic Bishops Conference head, views the constituent assembly as too expedient. Crassly Lakas-Kampi is reinterpreting the Constitution to suit itself. Because majority of senators oppose the mode, they have concocted a narrow definition of the provision on “three-fourths vote of all members of Congress.” They read it to mean the combined seats of the Senate (24) and House of Reps (238) — so they’re gunning for 197 endorsers of term extension as the contrived three-fourths. This could entail 196 Lakas-Kampi signatories, which Arroyo easily can muster with the right price, and one token senator. No need to observe Congress’ bicameral tradition voting separately.

Lakas-Kampi is confident it can pull the trick. They’ve already bribed the House plenary to kill the presidential impeachment. They can just as readily manipulate the Supreme Court to uphold the farce. After all, seven justices are retiring in 2009 and Arroyo’s mom can pack it with sycophants. The Judicial and Bar Council, which screens applicants for vacancies, can be recruited to play along. Itself packed with presidential appointees, the JBC refuses to make its deliberations public.

Malacañang is feigning disinterest in the Congress maneuvers. It insists that Gloria Arroyo will leave in 2010. But critics sneer that what it really means is she’ll step down as President to step up as prime minister.

What Lakas-Kampi has not factored in is the people’s wrath. Bishops, businessmen and academics are warning of Thailand-style turmoil if the officials who have been robbing them blind refuse to leave. To that, the justice department has nothing but threats to file charges of inciting to sedition against critics. It’s as if all prosecutors too have been bribed. To paraphrase Bertrand Russel, “The fundamental trouble with the world today is that the stupid is cocksure while the intelligent is full of doubt.”

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