In effect, why explore Charter Change when it does not
simply mean a shift from bicameral presidential form
of government to unitary, parliamentary form of
government? When an administration suffers from
credibility and widely believed to have instigated the
killings of its enemies, its motives to shift the form
of government and rewrite the Charter remain dubious,
if not obvious: it wants to stay extend its term in
power. The concept of responsible exercise of the
freedom of expression is being proposed under the
proposed Cha-cha and this means a greater latitude on
the part of the state in power to stifle those which
it sees as being irresponsible in exercising its
freedoms. Then too, some Cha-cha proposals also
warrant the prime minister to declare Martial Law,
without term limits and without the need to report to
Congress 48 hours after the declaration. The Supreme
Court is not any more empowered to review the Martial
law edict.
The Charter change proposals contain amendments to
redefine national patrimony, that is to do away with
Filipino ownership over public utilities and allow
total foreign control over water, electric,
telecommunications, transportation, education, mass
media and advertising. This means that Pres. Arroyo,
being the chief proponent of the GATT-WTO
globalization back in 1995 when she was still a
senator, is interested in seeing in her lifetime the
full liberalization, privatization and deregulation of
our economy through the Cha-cha.
Given that political self-interest and foreign
domination weigh heavily in Cha-Cha, any reckless
effort to ram its way into our consciousness should be
opposed and defeated. This is not to say that we
should stick with the 1987 Constitution eternally and
block any effort for reform. Any reform through
Cha-cha to be initiated by the present administration
is anything but reform, but sheer self-preservation.
To empower our women and give them equal
opportunities, to truly protect all victims of
violence, to ensure the economic upliftment of our
workers, to pursue the interest of the common farmers,
fisherfolk and national minorities, these are reforms
that must be addressed in any charter amendment. But
it would be to our detriment and that of the future
generations to expect Pres. Arroyo and her allies in
Congress to lead this route and anticipate any real
change in our lives.###
