A grand deception

ENQUIRY
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

A grand deception
Sunday, 03 29, 2009

That is how former Senate President Frank Drilon of the Liberal Party describes the move to amend the Constitution through the resolution drafted by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte.

The resolution calls “upon the members of Congress to convene for the purpose of considering proposals to amend or revise the Constitution, upon a vote of three-fourths of all the members of Congress.”

So whence lies the deception? The subterfuge lies in the seemingly innocent call for the convening of a Constituent Assembly (Con-ass) that would not extend the terms of office of the President and the Vice President and all other elective officials, the assurance that the term of the senators elected in 2007 would not be shortened, and the commitment that there will be elections in May 2010.

No one can argue with all these. But the devil lurks behind the motive and the details.

Here is the plan, as Drilon sees it: Gather the votes of at least 197 members of the House of Representatives to initiate Charter change (Cha-cha) through a Con-ass, bypass the Senate, thereby precipitating a justiceable controversy where the Supreme Court will eventually rule that “three-fourths vote of all members” means “the whole of the members of Congress or the entire or total thereof and not three-fourths of each House voting separately.” With the issue settled as to how a Con-ass can be convened and propose constitutional amendments, the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress, which at that time will have been dominated by former President-turned Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga and her minacious minions, will then convene as a Con-ass to author a shift to the parliamentary form of government so that she can now aspire to be prime minister and rule the country beside her now largely ceremonial President.

Of course, the Drilon scenario has to contend with many possibilities, not the least of which is the matter of the composition of the House of Representatives after the May 2010 elections. After all, given the current mood of the nation, Arroyo and her minions may not be able, in May 2010, to elect to the House the required number of 197 members who can ram Cha-cha down our throats via a Con-ass.

But it does make sense to foist, broadcast, upload and dump this scenario on the general populace to make the people vigilant and discerning in their choices for president, and for senators and representatives of the House. The ultimate question to be posed then to a candidate in the May 2010 elections is: Will you support a shift to a parliamentary form of government?

If a presidential candidate all too willingly supports a shift to a parliamentary form of government, then there is a great chance that this candidate, if he becomes president, would most likely be all too eager to become a ceremonial president to a Prime Minister Arroyo.

If a senatorial candidate, without batting an eyelid, says he is in favor of a shift to a parliamentary form of government, then there is a great chance that this candidate, if he becomes a senator, would most likely be all too willing to accept the proposition that the 197 votes of the House will suffice to initiate Cha-cha via a Con-ass.

If a candidate for a congressional seat publicly announces that he favors a shift to a parliamentary form of government, then there is a great chance that this candidate, if he gets elected as representative, would most likely be all too enthusiastic to enlist in the RAM — the “Retain Arroyo Movement” — in the House of Representatives which will conveniently ram through the constitutional amendment that will make a prime minister out of Arroyo.

So I say again at the risk of being prolix: It does make sense to foist, broadcast, upload and dump this scenario on the general populace, in order that the justiceable controversy that the Villafuerte resolution seeks to insidiously precipitate will never come within an arm’s length of the Supreme Court.

Right now, the resolution is short of 20 members needed to get past the threshold of 197 members voting in favor. We do not know who the deceitful 177 are. But we do know a few, most notable of which are Arroyo’s sons, the presumptive Speaker from Tacloban, and the proponent of the resolution. They have been flaunting the number 177 for many months now, which is transparent doublespeak and party-babble that betrays the fact there are actually many holdouts who refuse to enlist in the RAM. Possibly, the inability of Arroyo, et al. to get more converts for the RAM is a function of the stream of scandals in the administration: Anyone who wants to run in 2010 should keep his distance from the RAM, lest he be contaminated by the stench, swept away by the tide of public disgust and rejection, and thereby be consigned to the kangkungan of the elections. This RAM faces the very real possibility of being exposed as a helpless ewe.

Drilon and his Liberal Party are making the right choices this time. His presidential candidate, Mar Roxas, is also pursuing the right advocacies. (Roxas won a lot supporters, with a big help from IBP Gov. Abe Estrada of Northern Luzon, during the 18th IBP National Convention in Bacolod last Friday — and that’s an indication, if at all, that a lot of level-headed people are listening to him). Except for the LP, no other political party and its members have been consistent in this one issue on Cha-cha.

Now, if Drilon and Roxas can wrangle their herd, and prevail upon the (sheepish) party members in the House of Representatives to never affiliate with the RAM, then they can count on a grateful electorate who will not allow wool to be pulled over their eyes again in 2010.

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