Thursday, August 14, 2008 Editorials: Malacañang’s Cha-cha proposal
NICE try, but will it succeed?
Strategists of the Arroyo administration obviously think so, or they would not have the gall to float the Charter change (Cha-cha) idea again.
This time they are banking on to two compelling points: the age-old search for an answer to the Bangsamoro question and the push for the shift to a federal system of government.
BJE idea
The first one is tied to the controversial Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) proposal that calls for the expansion of the areas encompassed by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the granting of additional powers to that entity almost akin to a federal state.
The BJE idea, if it sails through opposition put up by some sectors through the Supreme Court or gains popular support may lead to a tinkering of the Constitution.
Unfortunately, many Christians and some Muslims are not sold to the idea as yet, which could weaken the argument for Cha-cha “in aid of solving the Mindanao problem.”
Besides, a good number of people out there are always wary of the moves of the government, and they are already insinuating that the Cha-cha initiative is meant to extend the term of President Arroyo.
Senate resolution
As for the second point, Malacañang strategists were wily enough to piggyback its Cha-cha push with a Senate resolution passed in May and authored by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel calling for a shift to a federal form of government and Cha-cha.
If Cha-cha is to be done via Congress as a Constituent Assembly, House of Representatives approval won’t be enough; the Senate must also dance.
And Senate Joint Resolution No. 10 got the support of majority of the senators.
But here’s the catch.
In our kind of politics, the Maoist principle of “support whatever the enemy opposes, and oppose whatever the enemy supports” is being applied.
Some senators who signed Senate Joint Resolution No. 10 are already saying they won’t back a federalism shift through Cha-cha initiative if Malacañang piggybacks on it.
Sincerity
Until the people believe that both the effort and those behind the effort are sincere, Cha-cha proposals will always be spurned, the use of crafty strategies notwithstanding.
