Society writ large is set on the speculative mood. No one knows for certain what day 27th of July 2009 would be like when the President delivers her 9th State of the Nation Address. Rumors abound that a huge street rally will be launched anywhere near Batasan Complex where the joint session of House and Senate will be held. Or, sometime within the day, the House convenes as a Constituent Assembly even if only a single soul from the Senate will join the pseudo-constitutional ritual. Worst, rather than satisfying the prescribed ¾ votes of members of Congress, it will go through viva voce, again. In what Bernas says is a clear case of desperation, the House appears indicatively bound by the pecking order from Malacanang – to convene as Con-Ass and amend or revise the Constitution thereafter. And it appears that the first order of business is the shift from a presidential form of government to a parliamentary system. When this is done, as the conspiracy theory goes, GMA can then go around the constitutional ban on seeking another term.
Then the plot thickens.
On one end of the scale, here we find GMA’s COMELEC lawyer Atty. Makalintal stating categorically that GMA will rather take care of her grandchildren after her term come 2010 and that people has nothing to be afraid of since this Con-Ass will no longer push through for lack of material time. Makalintal says that it takes at least a year for the COMELEC to hold the plebiscite and the intervening period for information drive is required so Con-Ass could be publicly debated upon. Thus, hearing another speculation opposite of what Makalintal is saying might reduce the whole Makalintal’s claim as a sort of a ‘decoy’ calibrated or skillfully thought to doze off water from a burning issue that fans the flames of hatred from many quarters of society. In other words, there can be a kind of anesthetic effect if people tend to believe that GMA will not opt to be the next Prime Minister under a new Constitution as well as under a new form of government – a Parliament.
Is it waiting game?
The ‘balance of power’ seems to crystallize. GMA must be most afraid to be slapped with all the charges as are those contained in the articles of impeachment that were eclipsed by an earlier move from a pseudo petitioner who turns out to be her political ally just so to ‘violate’ the constitutional requirement that only one impeachment case should be filed against the president. In other words, GMA does not want to give up on constitutionally availing immunity from suits after her official watch, hence her option for a term extension – by changing the rules of the game, as if it were. Just when at first, presidential authority has just been handed down to her with the rationalized ouster of Erap; and thereafter allowed to run for president after consuming the unexpired term of her predecessor in a 2004 election marred with the ‘hello Garci scam’; on to the third such opportunity to be president or prime minister in perpetuity by – ‘operation of law’ – these, all told, must have given GMA all the luck in the world.
Who is next to rule over RP? This might just be the $6 million dollar question.
Perhaps, there must have been an earlier firm commitment by this government to give in to the pressing demand of the 27 or so states of the European Union for the country to open its doors for foreign acquisition or ownership of lands by relaxing if not totally removing certain constitutional restraints stipulated in the present Constitution. This issue alone invites brewing discussion and debate given its far-reaching implications. If foreigners or foreign multinational corporations can already acquire lands without certain imposed limits or restraints, chances are, prime real estate properties will soon belong to foreign nationals and entities to our own collective peril. Something must operate around an obvious ‘scheme of fraud’ somewhere, we have to think.
Will someone tell us what the next 6 years will be for our country and our people?
Popularity: 1% [?]
My thoughts, at first blush:
3,000 Filipinos will continue to go abroad each day hoping to carve out new lives abroad while sending back sustenance to their families;
the communist and Moro separatist rebellions will continue to fester;our foreign debt portfolio and chronic budget deficits will continue to limit infrastructure development and broader social services to the poor; the education infrastructure decline will worsen; Philippine foreign policy will stay linked to US policies; criminality will remain a sharp thorn on our side; poverty will worsen if not plateau given how serious it already is.
Believe me, I hope I’m wrong.
Ding:
The Moro never wanted to be part of the Philippines in the first place.
The Moros were lumped into the Philippines without consent.
How can they separate when they were NEVER part of it in the first place.
More bombings and killings in their territory is not exactly a way of convincing people to not separate from an already scr*wed up piece of real estate.
Yes. But Moroland is part of the Philippines under the Treaty of Paris. That’s a historical reality, Bong.
That is why the MILF and MNLF continue with their struggle, internationalized as it has become.
Ding G. Gagelonia,
“Yes. But Moroland is part of the Philippines under the Treaty of Paris. That’s a historical reality, Bong.”
Well, it depends on what historical perspective.
There was a Sultanate comprising part of Mindanao, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Or are you one of those whose historical perspectives are guided by Western writers?
Hi punona,
I’m saying that it is a historical reality.
This is not saying our brother Tausugs, Maranaos,Lumads and other ethnic groups down South should not be allowed to pursue their dream of regaining their lands and of charting their destiny.
The injustices committed against them are undeniable and must in time be redressed.
But this is an issue between and among Filipinos.
Killing each other and employing terrorism against each other is not the solution.
Ding:
It is an issue that has dragged for decades – the Moros are sick and tired of the GRP sh*t.
punona:
That is highly debatable. Spain had no right to cede territory over which it did not exercise sovereignty.
And no, my historical perspective is based on the Moro perspective.
Okay, speculation . . .
Ms. Arroyo fails in her “legal coup” because of popular, opinion leader, and foreign pressures; she absconds to London to live forever and seek audiences with the Queen.
COMELEC pulls off a sound election – perhaps delayed 90 days — with a few loud perversions, but not enough problems to cause riots or re-vote.
The new President is steeped in old-style power-play, personal greed government, but decides he wants to be remembered as the Philippine President who did good things. So he begins a slow, methodical clean-up of visible corruption.
He tosses the VFA, thereby making Filipinos proud of their independence. His popularity ratings soar, giving him room to maneuver.
He spearheads revision of the constitution to allow foreign ownership of lands and businesses, seemingly contradictory to the VFA stance, but, hey, he is ummmmmm . . . motivated by a special intere$t$.
Things get better during his term, but not glamorous. The purse is fake Gucci rather than real, but it is better than the tattered old one with the hole in the bottom about the size of Ms. Arroyo’s hand.
The true Philippines dwindles to roughly the stature of a servant as the powerless become even more powerless before a greedy onrush of foreign landowners and business owners.
Babies are made like crazy, for at least THERE is tangible, God-gifted power . . .
The President exits, stage left, smiling . . .
Joe
It depends on what kind of law is passed.
For example, Taiwan allows 100% ownership of residences, hospitals, and schools ONLY.
Re Moros. I am reminded of Eckert Tolle’s admonition in “The Power of Now” that it is futile to live in a past that no longer exists. What exists Now on Mindanao is a conflict of moralities and no amount of back-history is going to change it. It has to be addressed for what it is today.
Joe
Joe:
Going by that route, BHO ought to tell the Palestinians about the “power of Now” :lol:
Indeed, I heard it said that the Muslims in Mindanao claim not to have ever given up on their own sovereignty, historically enough.
Maybe, the Tripoli Agreement can be revisited for it seems to reflect what their true aspirations are – own army, own economy, own law – if memory serves me right.
Ding, I thought some 2,700 leave the country every day but not it must have increased a bit to 3,000 leaving this doomed place called RP in search for greener pastures or is it a world where the grass or everything is pink? (joke lang).
Joe, I like how you put it – $pecial intere$t$. great!
Pinoys made a mockery of the Triploi agreement, they make a mockery of democracy.
The question is what mockery and what stupidity will Pinoys in the homeland come up with next.