WHAMMY One: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s idiotic draft of a new constitution that got the House’s nod on second reading is an arrogant, insensitive, and insulting ploy to keep trapos firmly in exclusive control of this country’s patrimony.
Filipinos have been clamoring for an implementing law to the 1987 Constitution’s ban on political dynasties that have run this country exclusively for their benefit. But here comes Arroyo (of “hello Garci” notoriety) removing not only the ban but also the term limits for legislators and, furthermore, limiting political parties to the original two that only oligarchs are or can be members of.
That could arguably mean she wants her ilk to perpetuate their vise-grip on policy-making and wield it for their exclusive benefit. It is a clever but egregious plot to prevent the shift to federalism by railroading a backward charter that would surely be disapproved by a naïve public that they could easily dis-inform.
I thought that study and discussion of federalism would start with former chief justice Renato Puno’s Constitutional Commission’s draft that adequately mirrors what the President wants and what many know to be a genuine federal form of government. What happens to it when Arroyo’s draft is passed into law?
A genuine federal form of government can be a pathway towards neutralizing political dynasties and giving all sectors proportionate representation in government. The shift, therefore, is inimical to the political and economic interests of the trapos and/or oligarchs in government.
It is no wonder that they are rushing a charter with half-baked or false federal features. They want to dis-inform people so they would disapprove a form of government they know next to nothing about. They want to hide what it truly is and get it disapproved by the people for what it is not.
My biggest questions are reserved for the President and the bishops. Why is he silent and allowing Arroyo to move forward with a draft that is clearly contrary to the spirit of Puno’s Commission’s draft? Why are the bishops just as silent about it? Is it because they are part of the privileged class that Arroyo is trying to protect with her idiocy? Or is it because she sided with them in their fight against the reproductive health bill?
Whammy Two: Former senator Bong Revilla’s acquittal of plunder charges is outrageous but not surprising because our justice system has always been two-tiered, not just now in Duterte’s administration as his critics are screaming. I thought only criminal cases have to be proven beyond reasonable doubt while others are judged by preponderance of evidence. I can’t believe there was no preponderance of evidence in Revilla’s case. (To be continued)