Friday, December 15, 2006 Wenceslao: Desperate government, angry people By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
CAN the Arroyo administration still get out of the political hole it has dug itself in? One thing is certain: it is desperately trying to. Just listen to Speaker Jose de Venecia's pronouncements. He floated the Charter change-through-constitutional-convention gambit and then announced the death of the constituent assembly (Con-Ass) scheme.
No more considering shame there. President Arroyo and his gang must have felt the strength of the political backlash from their shameless push for Charter change through Con-Ass. With the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), El Shaddai and Iglesia ni Kristo drifting away, Malacañang has realized its vulnerability.
I doubt if the Arroyo administration can wipe out quickly the mess it has created. The aborted Con-Ass move exposed its arrogance and lack of scruples, which are among the things people hate. Remember the envelope fiasco and Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta's dancing in the Estrada impeachment hearings? The anger sparked People Power 2.
Actually, the Con-Ass move may have been more of a product of desperation than anything else. The Senate was immovable. The Supreme Court shot down the Cha-cha through people's initiative scheme. The surveys reported an opposition advantage in next year's elections. Malacañang can paint doomsday scenarios with those developments.
And so the Arroyo administration pushed and pushed the Cha-cha scheme that it probably thought was its only salvation. Shift the political system from presidential-bicameral to parliamentary-unicameral. Postpone the elections. But it breached the bounds and eventually rammed into a brick wall: people's anger. Now it is backtracking.
I hate to be the bearer of bad ideas, but it is in situations like these that I begin to worry. Range a desperate government against a people whose anger is now being stoked by power-hungry politicians. The situation is becoming combustible.
Perhaps that should be the point of this Sunday's prayer rally at the Luneta. Emphasize on the word "prayer."
TEXTREAX. Mons Achilles Dakay, media liaison officer of the Cebu archdiocese, better be careful with his public statements. Here’s PGR of Mabolo, Cebu City: If Dakay thinks that Rep. Antonio Cuenco’s apology for supporting the Con-Ass is not enough, what about the priest involved in a recent scandal? Has he apologized? Clean your own backyard first.”
