Cha Cha: Philippines Style

Change is something we should not be afraid of.

But we have to make sure we always change for the better and not for the worse.

Our Congress, influenced a great deal by Malacanang has been trying so hard to change the Philippines Constitutional provisions on the system of government — from the presidential system to a parliamentary one.

In the Philippines we call this move to amend our constitution “Charter Change” or “Cha-Cha.”

Let’s delve a bit into Philippine history, because we Filipinos are so easy to forget, so hard to mobilize, take long to complain and act on matters of national importance (well, we have allowed ourselves to be put on “survival mode” through our apathy and tolerance regarding all things political), and content ourselves to complaining only when it’s too late, and merely sigh in defeat.

Well, here is a short summary of contemporary Philippine history as far as our Constitution is concerned, and I will try to make it as uncomplicated as possible.

1965 – Ferdinand Marcos become President of the Philippines. Under the 1935 Philippine Constitution patterned after the U.S. Constitution, the president is allowed one (1) re-election.

1969 – Ferdinand Marcos is re-elected but he knows he just has 4 short years left in power and that simply is too short.

1972 – With one year left before his term as president expires, Marcos declares martial law.

1972-1986 – The Filipinos are silenced and afraid, the military is supreme, folks disappear left and right, we speak in hushed tones, people are picked up from the streets and “salvaged,” Marcos gives his cronies monopolies of all lucrative industries. We have a coconut king, a sugar king, a banana king, and eventually Imelda Marcos says “We practically own everything in the Philippines.”

1973 – The Philippines has a new constitution, we call it the 1973 constitution. We moved from the presidential system to a parliamentary form of government. Marcos, of course became Prime Minister but the funny thing is, he was also at the same time President.

1983 – Ninoy Aquino, the staunchest rival of Ferdinand Marcos whom he jailed and tortured (by keeping him in solitary confinement for years knowing that Ninoy was a very talkative people person) but eventually allowed to go on exile in America returns to the Philippines advocating reconciliation. He is murdered upon landing in the Manila International Airport while under military custody.

1983-1986 – The Philippines saw a series of anti-Marcos protest for the first time since Martial Law was declared, starting with the death of Ninoy Aquino.

1986 – Answering a challenge by an American Senator in late 198 on whether he still has the mandate of the Filipino people, Marcos scheduled a snap election for February 7. The “People Power Revolution” from February 22-25 causes Marcos to flee to Hawaii where he remained in exile until his death. Ninoy’s widow Cory Aquino, a political newbie, though totally unqualified for the position was the one who united the political opposition at that time and ran against Marcos, was sworn in as President of the Philippines.

1987 – One of Cory’s first important acts in 1986 as president of the Philippines was to establish Constitutional Commission to amend the 1973 Constitution.

On the matter of the legislature, there was a tie for half the members just a unicameral Congress while the other half wanted a bicameral Congress with an Upper House (Senate) and a Lower House (House of Representatives). The tie was broken b Atty. Felicitas Aquino-Arroyo. She felt it was important for there representatives with a national mandate (Senators) as this would also be a great venue and training ground for future presidents.

Under the 1987 Constitution, the term of the Philippine president is now 6 years long with no chance for re-election. The Con-Com decided to lengthen the term but remove re-election so that the president could just buckle down to work as soon as he or she is elected without doing what the others Philippine presidents did, which was to spend the first term campaigning for re-election. Six years, they felt was long enough for someone to be President of the Philippines and be effective.

They also limited the terms of the local officials and representatives to three consecutive terms of three years each so that no mayor or congressman could entrench himself in power for longer than nine years. But of course our politicians found a workaround for that by having their relatives run and switching places with their allies.

Our Constitution also has a provision on political dynasties but our legislators never found the time to enact an enabling law in all of 22 years the provision has existed.

1992 – Fidel Ramos, who never ran for public office but who was a People Power hero, became president, although many suspect or believe that Miriam Defensor-Santiago won that election.

1998 – Joseph Estrada wins as president by such a decisive margin that no amount of cheating could overcome his numbers.

2000 – Joseph Estrada is removed from office by some people gathering on EDSA, Joseph Estrada taking a boat ride along Pasig River and the Supreme Court of the Philippines coming up with a legal term “constructive resignation.” His then vice-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo becomes president.

2004 – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo “wins” against Fernado Poe, Jr. although she later admits that hers was the voice in the Garci tapes, but she says “I’m sorry” and the Filipino people just did not care that it was an implied admission of massive cheating on her part.

2009 – With all her allies in place in Congress and in the Supreme Court, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is now looking to be in power forever. In recent years, there have been the rumblings of Charter Change.

Our very own Baguio Congressman, Mauricio Domogan, a staunch ally of Arroyo’s, has been doing the rounds convincing people that charter change equals economic prosperity.

LISA: um, Congressman, you were mayor for 3 terms, Congressman for 3 terms, and what did you guys do about productivity and economic prosperity in all this time, nothing much except to create crisis after crisis?

Is it truly the case of the system being wrong or how the people have CORRUPTED the system? Change the system to keep the corrupt people in power = economic prosperity? How dumb do you think we are?

Recently the distinguished gentlemen of the House of Representatives are rallying behind House Resolution 1109 seeking to convene a constituent assembly even without the Senate (our Constitution provides for the concurrence of both Houses). They will try to railroad everything before the 2010 presidential elections so that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo can run as member of the planned Parliament and be installed by her allies as Prime Minister.

But do not be fooled by their dance. As the Juana Change “Cha-Cha” video above illustrates, the cha-cha is a series of moves going forward and taking steps back.

Many options are open to Gloria Macapagal -Arroyo and her henchmen to perpetuate themselves in power — they will test this move in the Supreme Court, and of course she is not beyond doing a “Marcos” by pretending there is some grave danger and declaring Martial law, like exploding another “chik-boom” in a trash can on the Malacanang grounds (for which she declared emergency rule, albeit temporarily).

We must protest charter change at this point because of their MOTIVES for changing it. As I said, change can be good but this kind of change is so transparently evil, self-serving and reflects the will of only a few bad men who have been fooling and screwing over the Filipino people.

In other words, EXPECT a series of moves on the part of the politicians and take them as a whole. See the motive, see the dance. They dance only amongst themselves and for themselves.

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