Thursday, December 14, 2006 Espinoza: Asean summit and the Con-Ass issue By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ended Speaker Jose de Venecia’s hope of becoming the first interim prime minister under a unicameral-parliamentary form of government after she abandoned the constituent assembly (Con-Ass) scheme.
Earlier, the House of Representatives approved a Con-Ass resolution that would have had congressmen amending the Constitution without the participation of the senators. Good that President Arroyo saw the political storm (not Seniang) that brewed with the Con-Ass issue, or she would have been mired in a deep political crisis that could have abruptly ended her term.
The Catholic Church, together with the left, right and other organizations have expressed disgust over what the House did and have scheduled massive protest actions. And with President Arroyo dropping her support for Charter change (Cha-cha) through Con-Ass, de Venecia had no other choice but to sing a different tune.
De Venecia is now favoring Cha-cha through a constitutional convention, something that the Senate and the public want. In a manner of speaking, he had to eat his words after boasting that in 15 days we will have a new charter.
I think the political storm over the Con-Ass and not the terrorist threat or the passing of howler Seniang was the reason why the Asean summit, originally scheduled this week, was postponed to January. While the postponement was a relief to businessmen and the contractor of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), it disturbed the schedule of those who planned to leave Cebu during the summit.
Students already booked for a short vacation to neighboring Asian cities had no choice but to absent themselves from their classes, which resumed when the summit was cancelled. The schedule of the summit delegates who already arrived was also disrupted.
But the postponement gave local officials involved in the summit preparation, particularly Gov. Gwen Garcia, a breathing spell. Now, Maning Guanzon has more time to finish the CICC.
For the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), this would mean additional work since it has to retouch traffic markings/paintings on the road that were washed out by the heavy rains on Friday and Saturday. But does the DPWH still have funds to pay the contractors doing the road repair works?
Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña could not blame President Arroyo for using Seniang as an alibi in postponing the summit because it was a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. The blame should heavily fall on de Venecia for the wrong timing in approving the Con-Ass resolution.
A white lie is not as harmful to the President as admitting she is scared of the mounting protest actions and rallies sparked by the Con-Ass scheme.
