 |
 |
| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| FVR�s Solution By Antonio C. Abaya Written July 31, 2005 For the Standard Today, August 02 issue Former President Fidel V. Ramos invited to a one-on-one over tea two Saturdays ago, at his office atop the Urban Bank building, to clear up some misconceptions I may have about the solution he offered for the current impasse over the future of President Arroyo. In my article titled �Military Dilemma� (July 19), I had written that Ramos �apparently endorsed the formation of a Council of Elders, made up of seven individuals, to replace President Arroyo until a new constitution is drafted and elections are held for a new Parliament.� It turned out that I had watched an undated video ambush interview of FVR over ANC (actually recorded on July 07) in which he seemed to endorse a �revolutionary government� but in reality was proposing a �more of the same� approach that would provide President Arroyo with a graceful exit out of her predicament. Sorry, folks, no revolutionary ideas, changes or insights from Tabako. But because President Arroyo will not heed calls for her voluntary resignation, and the moves to impeach her may not attract the requisite minimum number of votes in Congress, and because the phony revolutionary council of Jejomar Binay and JV Ejercito does not excite anyone except the Erap trapos, the proposal of Fidel Ramos may yet turn out to be the only game in town. In his formula first aired in a speech on July 07 and repeated in his Bulletin Today column of July 22, FVR proposes the creation of a High Commission of Filipino Leaders, thru a Joint Congressional mandate, �to examine the good and the bad about the Philippine condition, with full powers to prescribe policy reforms, executive actions and private endeavors.� (President Arroyo seems to have endorsed this idea with her call for the creation of a consultative commission to make recommendations for charter changes.) FVR drew a timeline for his proposed solution: From July 08 to and not later than September 2005: The High Commission of seven individuals is formed. The two Houses of Congress are convened as a constituent assembly and draft constitutional amendments not later than November 01, 2005 on the following issues: shift to the parliamentary system, electoral reforms, political party reforms, and judicial reforms. (FVR does not make any mention of federalism which he frowns on, as I do.) Not later than December 01, 2005: The High Commission submits the proposed constitutional amendments to the Constituent Assembly. From December 01, 2005 to January 01, 2006: The Constituent Assembly and the High Commission adopt a final draft of the constitutional amendments. From January 01, to February 12, 2006: Public information campaign on the new constitution. February 14, 2006: Plebiscite for the ratification of the new constitution. (It has to be on Valentine�s Day. Napaka-corny talaga nating mga Pinoy.) February 16 to May 10, 2006: Election campaign period. May 12, 2006: General Elections for national and local positions under the new constitution. (What national positions would these be? In a Westminster-type parliamentary system, all members of parliament are elected in electoral districts, not nationally. Is FVR thinking of the French variant of the parliamentary system, which Ferdinand Marcos adopted in the 1970s? Should be a no-no. (And we should move our E-Day back to November, as we had it for decades, until the Cory Constitution of 1987. The month of May is the hottest and most unpleasant month of the year in these latitudes and is therefore the wrong time to be holding elections.) June 30, 2006: Assumption of office of all newly elected officials under the new constitution. FVR says that this plan, which he calls the Total Approach, is a doable �win-win solution� but requires some sacrifice from everyone, �the higher one�s position, the greater the sacrifice.� This means elected officials giving up voluntarily a part of their terms of office so that each one can be elected by the voters under the umbrella of an amended Constitution that is more responsive to the needs of our people.� This means, I suppose, that everyone from President Arroyo, Vice-President Noli de Castro, down to all the senators and congressmen will step down from their present offices by February 16, 2006, if they plan to run for seats in the proposed parliament. Who will be running the country between February 16 and June 30, 2006, since the Senate President and the Speaker of the House will also likely run for parliament? If I were planning a military takeover, I would choose this period to make my move (so would the NPA and the Abu Sayyaf) since the country would not have a government then, on top of the inevitable confusion and chaos that comes from holding an election with unfamiliar new rules and parameters. On the other hand, would Gloria Arroyo agree to shorten her term by four years by declining to run for a seat in parliament and stepping down from the presidency on June 30, 2006? I suppose life-saver FVR can twist her arm, but my reading of her political ambitions is that she wants to segue from president to prime minister by 2007. See my article �Prime Minister Gloria?� (May 17, 2005). FVR himself says that GMA can run for a seat in parliament, if she chooses to, which was met by groans from all points of the compass. But suppose GMA does decide to run for a seat in parliament (which will create shock waves of its own) and Noli de Castro decides not to, since he has no party of his own and therefore has no chance of becoming PM, so he might as well relish about 84 days of being a real president, the last ones after 60 years of the presidential system�.. In this scenario, add shock waves from GMA�s running and Noli�s total inexperience, to the chaos and confusion from holding an unfamiliar new kind of elections. If I were planning a military takeover, or an NPA offensive, or an Abu Sayyaf bombing campaign��� And who�s going to oversee this bedlam? The Abalos Comelec? Oh, God! Not again! To answer critics that his plan is just to pave the way for his (FVR�s) return to power as prime minister, Ramos has dared Congress to pass a new law prohibiting former presidents (Aquino, Estrada and himself) from running in the parliamentary elections. He will have to include Gloria Arroyo in that list since, by stepping down from the presidency on or before February 16 to run for a seat in parliament, Arroyo becomes a �former president� and would therefore be ineligible to run for that seat, under FVR�s suggested new law. Will GMA still go for that graceful exit? But the biggest flaw in FVR�s Total Approach, in my opinion, is the fact that the constitutional amendments will be drafted by a constituent assembly made up of trapos and political dynasts who now control the present Congress and who will do everything to retain their positions, power and privileges in the new Parliament. Total Approach may provide President Arroyo with a graceful exit. But for the rest of the country, it will likely be �More of the same.� ***** Reactions to [email protected] or fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �FVR�s Solution� Dear Tony, FVR is an inconsequential factor in the present crisis confronting the nation. He only counts to those who perceive that he still has any substantial clout in the military but of course no longer holds. The military is one of the sectors who wants GMA and other corrupt government leaders ousted. First, survey shows Joe de Venecia and he join GMA in the cellar rankings of wannabes. dagdag bigat lang sila kay Mrs. Arroyo. Second, survey shows the majority of Filipinos do not want charter change at this time. They want GMA out first. Third, survey shows the people do not want former presidents to have a role in any new form of government, espcially FVR. FVR however will never wane because he is under constant threat because of the public perception that he engaged in sweetheart deals during his term. People talk freely about allegedly being part of Skyway, Metrorail, Fort Bonifacio etc.H has to protect his interests whether they are ill-gotten or not. Bilib na bilib sa sarili itong si FVR and his messianic complex soars. But the people are already puking about power politics or patronage rule. They want honest representation of their needs, after all they are the constituency. Unless our government, especially the presidency and congress reflects the true sentiments of the people and render relevant service, there will always be a need to change leaders as often as people power is possible. Adolfo Paglinawan, [email protected] August 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww My comment: How can Filipinos still trust this man, who has been one of the causes of present ills and predicament the country is in at the moment? I bet you this man has a lot to answer to his Maker, even for the countless lives being uselessly sacrificed for this man's ambition. I bet a lot many people are praying for the early demise of this crook, whose only remarkable attribute is that he can really play it clean. On the other hand, I see a galvanizing of the Filipinos' resolve to unite amidst diversity and adversity to kick out these post-1986 trapos, who are actually the same 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. generation crooks who have dominated Philippine politics before and after 1946. I wish these Filipinos luck in this renewed effort to unite (the word reconciliation is apparently not applicable since the Filipinos have never been united as a people, not even in during the bleak years of WWII or during the EDSAs)! The longer Gloria M. Arroyo tries to cling to her stolen position, the stronger the possibility of a real Filipino unity that something FVR's US bosses would not want to see happening! Yuko Takei, [email protected] August 2, 2005 Tokyo, Japan wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I agree. Especially with your last two paragraphs. The fact that a select few is enjoying the wealth/power and will do anything to keep that power is the basic problem. Nice article! Teresa Taningco, [email protected] August 03, 2005 Santa Monica, California wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww As we are giving PGMA a second chance, the proposed High Commission and the ConASS will have their chance to show their real good worthiness leading to the parliamentary form of government. These two bodies could agree to form a caretaker until parliament becomes operational. The Abus and NPAs should remain in check with the AFP/PNP continuing its mandate to protect the State We need a lot of prayers now as it is going around the backdoor thru churches, by word of mouth and thru the internet sans most in media. Roger L. Madrigal, [email protected] August 03, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I think one of the best reforms possible would to cap the total election spending of a candidate and his supporters/friends and cronies, etc � and of course IMPLEMENT the rules. This would give less wealthy but competent candidates a hopefully even chance and break the strangleholds of the dynasties. What do you think are the chances are of Ramos� timetable? Seems like a long shot. Too many have too much to lose�. Dondi Joseph, [email protected] August 03, 2005 Cebu City MY REPLY. I doubt if GMA and the other trapos will agree to resigning their positions to give way to the High Commission. As you put it, too many are going to lose too much. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I may have mentioned to you in an earlier message that for GMA to START regaining credibility she should publicly state before the ConAss or ConCon that they should disqualify in the new Constitution the past presidents, including herself, from running. Manny Lim, [email protected] August 03, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I agree with your analysis totally on the flaw of FVR's toal approach. Unless the "trapos and political dynasts" also include themselves and their families (which I doubt) from running forever, nothing will change and the losers will always be the PHILIPPINES. As to your statement that GMA will have a "graceful" exit, that will also be an unrealistic occurrence since she has already been pre-judged by the populace of being a "cheat and a thief" in the last election and this she will not be able to erase from the minds of the Filipinos ever. She will go down in history as such. Her father must be rolling in his grave. Jose Genato, [email protected] August 03, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Sir: We should at least credit FVR for presenting concrete proposals. The dogs of the Left and the hyenas of the Kleptocracy (Imee Marcos, JV Ejercito, Jinggoy Estrada) have no alternative plans to show. The fact is that we need to act very soon. The Supreme Court will decide on the EVAT this month. If it strikes down EVAT, our creditors may not be kind. Another downgrade and devaluation may do more damage to the economy than the Abu Sayyaf. With almost 90% of annual revenue earmarked for debt service, government is in real danger of being paralyzed by debt. And if the EVAT were upheld, there will be the problems of implementing it and addressing the certain protests that will arise from it. Then there's the surging energy prices. Oil is now over $60 a barrel, with no signs of abating. The high cost of electricity and fuel will ignite more unrest and dampen economic growth. Sure, the Left and the Abu Sayyaf will always be lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike. But what will really do us in are the mountain of debt and the energy crisis. To my mind, the kind of democracy and government we have is not suited to the kind of people we have. We have too much ignorance and poverty to be able to afford the luxury of engaging in worthless debates and political masturbation. There will have to be drastic changes in our governance. I only hope these changes will not be accompanied by violence and destruction. Juan Deiparine, [email protected] Toril, Davao City, August 03, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Regarding your views on the CPP-NPA-NDF, I am 1000 (yes, that's right) percent in agreement with you. Your article was belatedly forwarded to ph-humanities, a newsgroup to which I subscribe. Even if I were late in getting to read it, I am glad I was finally able to do so. But I would like to ask: Why the persistence of the Maoist rebellion? Why the inability also of the AFP to crush it? I am BTW the technology news stringer of Agence France Presse. I used to be the managing editor of Philippine IT Update, one of the pioneering IT newspapers in the country and a direct competitor of Computerworld Philippines. Ike Suarez, [email protected] August 4, 2005 MY REPLY. The persistence of the Maoist insurgency is due to three factors: a) the widespread poverty and social injustice, which nurture social discontent; b) the prevalence of liberalism in our political culture which allows the communist movement to organize openly in all sectors of Philippine society, which give moral, political and financial support to the armed struggle; and c) lack of political will on the part of the government due to (b). Our neighbors in Southeast Asia also had Maoist insurgencies in the 1960s. Malaysia and Singapore solved it by jailing all communists and suspected pro-communists, indefinitely and without trial, under their Internal Security Act. Indonesia solved it by summarily executing communists and suspected pro-communists, an estimated 300,000. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |