Friday, August 15, 2008 Valdehuesa: Federalism: Foreign money fuels it By Manuel Valdehuesa Street Talk
LAWYERS tell us that in any contract the devil is in the details. That’s why, they add, you shouldn’t be content with verbal assurances, or it will end disastrously. You must insist on getting the text of the contract in advance, then read the provisions very carefully. Even a household appliance maker urges that one should read the instructions or warranty card first before buying or turning it on, or you’ll get stuck with a lemon!
This basic warning applies especially to any attempt to change such a momentous “warranty card” as the basic law of the land, the Constitution. The proposed change(s) must be examined carefully and, after reading it, ask all the questions that come to mind. And this must take place up front, not when it’s contract-signing time. Because by then it’s too late; you’re already compromised. Merely by accepting the invitation to the signing rite will be interpreted as endorsing it.
But so presumptuous is the present administration that it will disregard the right of the people, especially those directly affected by it, to examine what’s being drafted unless forced. In the MILF imbroglio, the ancestral domain issue involves an accommodation with Mindanao society’s single most threatening group. But the negotiators simply took everyone for granted. They actually flew to five star hotels in Malaysia and would have gone ahead -- signing it all by themselves while keeping everyone in the dark. Good thing the Supreme Court intervened and aborted the irresponsible attempt.
It’s appalling that they actually scheduled the signing ceremony without so much as a draft shown or consulting on it. Then the other day, barely a week later, they’re up to their tricks again. In front of a visiting president of an alien government (Switzerland’s), the president with the lowest approval rating ever -- announced that she wants to have the Philippine Republic reorganized. (Just like that; like telling a visitor that she’s having her house renovated!)
Was she seeking the approval of a foreign government? It turns out, as she was widely quoted, that the Institute of Federalism in Friburg, Switzerland, “was helping her administration do our studies on this form of government.” This raises the question of what secret arrangements are brewing or what concessions are being made with a foreign power… again.
What’s not generally known is that the so-called federal movement has been fueled all along by foreign money. It was German money that enabled the advocates, including ex-UP President Jose Abueva and our Senator Nene Pinentel, to conduct elaborate conferences in five-star hotels for decades now. They would fly in the participants and resource persons, local and foreign, to cities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. German money (through the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung) bankrolls the printing and distribution of glossy books, pamphlets and brochures that have been making the rounds among elite sectors for years.
Just a few years ago, GMA’s national security adviser (Norberto Gonzales) signed a secret contract with the American lobby firm, Venable LLP, to handle the federalism campaign – in the process precipitating a crisis involving the Senate and Malacañang. That attempt was squelched, but now it turns out that they merely switched gears and detoured to Switzerland. This issue is getting so full of holes it’s beginning to look like Swiss cheese!
Mindanaowons will be forgiven for raising an eyebrow at this breach of propriety or, as the doña would say, por delicadeza! This Mindanao, our island, the one they refer to as The Land of Promise, has been promised too many times to others.
The Constitution is a Social Contract. It is a sovereign agreement by, between, and among all Filipinos. Once entered into, it binds everyone. It is wrong to presume that leaders with dubious credibility or legitimacy, or just one segment of Philippine society, can dictate its terms and conditions and not bother to consult the rest.
But there it is, a naked case of presumptuous governance, a unilateral act by credibility-challenged officials. With foreign backing, possibly compromising the integrity of our Republic, they dare to do away with the present system that they haven’t even tried to implement in earnest. They want to replace it with something more sophisticated and delicate than the simple autonomy laws we can’t even enforce.
They don’t know that without the experience of autonomy or self-governance, federalism is putting the cart before the horse. They don’t know that in Switzerland, federalism works because of their centuries of experience in local self-governance through a system fueled by direct democracy in their districts or villages. Here, something similar has been on the books since the 1991 Local Government Code, but no one bothers to implement it -- not even Nene!
Why? Well, consult an ex-stalwart of Nene Pimentel’s party -- Vic Calejesan or Davao’s Lito Lorenzana! #
A former secretary-general of NUCD and the Christian Social Movement, Manny heads the Gising Barangay Movement and writes Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. Email: valdeman_esq@yahoo.com
