Guingona: Scrap Cha-Cha Now, Focus on Dev’t

In the opinion of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr., there should not even be any talk of Charter change at this time, and instead focus must be placed on “domestic development.” He says Charter change may only be talked about after the truth on the legitimacy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been unearthed.

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

LIGHTING A CANDLE FOR DEMOCRACY: Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr. at the June 12  rally in Manila ARKIBONGBAYAN PHOTO

In the opinion of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr., there should not even be any talk of Charter change at this time, and instead focus must be placed on “domestic development.” He says Charter change may only be talked about after the truth on the legitimacy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been unearthed. Guingona made this observation in an interview he gave to reporters during the Independence Day inter-faith prayer rally in Manila. The rally scored the Arroyo administration’s drive to change the Constitution by both “people’s initiative” and constituent assembly, among other concerns. “It should be shelved,” Guingona said about the Arroyo administration’s push for Charter change. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has voiced support for the campaign for Charter change through the so-called “people’s initiative” led by Sigaw ng Bayan (People’s Clamor), which describes itself as a non-government organization. The organization, led by lawyer Raul Lambino, claims to have gathered five million signatures of voters in favor of Charter change.

Sigaw ng Bayan’s campaign generated controversy as a result of reports that some local government officials had been gathering signatures from their constituents in exchange for food or money. In the interviews conducted by Bulatlat provincial correspondents, selected local government officials and voters admitted that bribery indeed took place in the gathering of signatures. People interviewed by Bulatlat also said that voters were made to sign without being given any explanation regarding the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a former president of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), criticized Sigaw ng Bayan’s campaign in a separate interview with reporters during the same rally. “The ‘people’s initiative’ is not an initiative of the people but an initiative of the government,” Cruz said.

Meanwhile, among the measures to be taken up upon the resumption of the congressional session this coming July is a resolution by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Constantino Jaraula calling on both houses of Congress to convene into a constituent assembly to push revisions to the Constitution.

When asked when it would be fitting to talk about Charter change again, Guingona replied: “After we clarify the truth on the sins of the past.” He was referring to the issue of Arroyo’s legitimacy, he said when asked for elaboration. Cruz made a similar observation. “If this (Charter change) pushes through, all issues will be covered up, like that on the legitimacy of the president,” he said. Arroyo had proposed Charter change during her 2005 State of the Nation Address (SoNA) as a supposed remedy for the political crisis that the country is experiencing. She reiterated it at Luneta during the government-sponsored Independence Day rites. “Our people will soon be called upon to make a decision that can bring an end to the political deadlocks that have stalled our efforts to take our nation to the next level,” said Arroyo.

Abp. Oscar Cruz, former CBCP president PHOTO BY AUBREY MAKILAN

In a dinner on the same day, Arroyo said, “The choice is for us to make whether we continue to live up to the vision of our national heroes or conveniently watch helplessly while our political system degenerates and our economy is trapped on the mire of uncertainty.”

Arroyo said she prefers that Charter change takes place this year.

Questions of legitimacy

Even before the May 2004 presidential election, there were already questions on whether it would yield credible results.

Arroyo had at that time appointed new commissioners to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) whose appointments could not be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments since the congressional session had already adjourned by then. To add further to the controversy, one of the appointees – Virgilio Garcillano – had been reported to be involved in the 1995 vote-padding and vote-shaving operations against Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr.

Discrepant figures in election returns and certificates of canvass after the May 2004 elections gave rise to allegations that there was “massive fraud” during the polls.

These allegations were revived in June 2005 by the surfacing of the so-called “Hello  Garci” tapes, in which a woman with a voice similar to Arroyo’s is heard instructing an election official – addressed as “Garci” in the tapes and widely believed to be Garcillano – to rig the polls. Since then, Arroyo has admitted talking to election officials during the counting period and Garcillano has likewise said he talked to politicians during the same period – but both have denied rigging the polls.

The revival of allegations that Arroyo cheated her way to victory in the 2004 elections fueled calls for her resignation or removal from office. It was at the height of such calls that she put forward her proposal for Charter change last year.

Unrealistic

Guingona also said both the so-called “people’s initiative” and the constituent assembly are bound to encounter formidable obstacles.

In an earlier interview with Bulatlat, lawyer Mehol Sadain, a retired Comelec commissioner, said Charter change through people’s initiative cannot be pursued without an enabling law. There is no law enabling that at present, he said.

Meanwhile, Cruz said he doubted whether Charter change through a constituent assembly “will be reality” at present.

“The House of Representatives cannot move without the Senate,” Cruz said. “That is fundamental.”

While House Speaker Jose de Venecia – a staunch Charter change proponent – is confident that they in the Lower House have the numbers, the Senate is largely against Charter change.

“So I hope they concentrate more on the program for domestic development,” Guingona said, referring to Charter change proponents. Bulatlat

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