May 2, 2006 · Posted in: Charter Change, Investigative Reports
Arroyo’s charter-change moves
copied from the Marcos book
IN the second part of the PCIJ three-part series on the Arroyo government’s campaign to change the 1987 Constitution, we show how such moves are apparently following a playbook written by a dictator. His name: Ferdinand Marcos.
In 1972, Marcos manipulated, bribed and intimidated key delegates of the Constitutional Convention to grant him extraordinary powers. He dangled a promise to cancel elections the following year and struck a deal with convention delegates that those who would vote “yes” to his extraordinary powers would automatically become members of an Interim National Assembly. He then set up “citizens’ assemblies” to ratify his constitution.
Last year, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo formed a Consultative Commission (ConCom) to draft a new charter. A handful of commissioners inserted last-minute provisions in this draft, granting President Arroyo extraordinary powers.
Some ConCom members who represented various leagues of local government officials also prodded the body to insert a section canceling the 2007 polls and giving all elected officials a bonus three-year term. In return, pro-Arroyo local officials recently convened citizens’ assemblies to start a sign-up drive to ratify “substantially” the same provisions that the ConCom had proposed, giving the president extraordinary powers.
The difference is that the people’s initiative is proposing even stronger powers for Arroyo than the ConCom did.
Vicente Paterno, a former ConCom member, noted that with the new insertions, there was now a remarkable similarity between the structure of power that Marcos fashioned for himself through the 1973 constitution, and what the ConCom proposed to hand over to President Arroyo. “I have to say it’s the same,” Paterno bluntly told his colleagues during the commission’s Dec. 14 plenary session.
Among the new provisions were:
- Immediately upon the charter’s ratification, a unicameral assembly to be called an “interim parliament” would be formed.
- The interim parliament will choose an interim prime minister among themselves. But the interim prime minister would be a mere member of the Cabinet of the “incumbent president” (i.e. Arroyo)
- Incumbent president Arroyo will immediately wear two hats by exercising the powers of both the “head of government” (the prime minister) and the ceremonial president (head of state). The only power of the prime minister denied her is the power to dissolve parliament.
- Incumbent president Arroyo will have exclusive “control and direction” of the Cabinet.
- Incumbent president Arroyo can insert one-third of her Cabinet, plus 30 new members of her choosing, into the interim parliament.
- Only members of her Cabinet can propose bills of national application in the interim parliament, relegating everyone else into filing local bills.
The official transcript of the Dec. 14 plenary session recorded a heated and passionate exchange among the ConCom members.
Read on at pcij.org. Part One of the PCIJ report can be read here. Transcripts of the Concom’s plenary sessions and minutes of the committee meetings can be downloaded here.
8 Responses to Arroyo’s charter-change moves
copied from the Marcos book
jester-in-exile
May 2nd, 2006 at 4:46 pm
is this in any way surprising?
i think not.
Jon Mariano
May 2nd, 2006 at 10:22 pm
Jester, I second the motion!
Many hated/hates Marcos but his ways were very effective! (That’s why they’re called Marcosian). GMA’s problem though is the negative connotation the “Marcos” name still brings. Putting what Gloria does besides Marcos’ name is therefore a good tactic to scare away from GMA those who hated Marcos.
ocayvalle
May 2nd, 2006 at 11:18 pm
i ask evevry dissent filipinos,even the religious sector from catholic,iglesia ni cristo
born again,JIL protestant,adventist,muslim all NGO`s and student group and all ordinary citezen,please we all unite and oust GMA and his evil group the like of JDV,DOJ Gonzales.SEC Puno,Bunye,Ermita,Defensor etc.if we can not oust her the earlier,we are all in trouble..let put this GMA and her group to where they belong
J A I L…and let them rot there forever.
Polano
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:04 am
I’m deeply frustrated seeing the Philippines going to the dogs. And I couldn’t believe to myself that until now poverty has remained a big headache because the government somehow fails to address the problem. This is not to mention the economic woes that most Filipinos feel at the moment. What is ironical here is that the government is led by someone who is an economist by profession. Yet the Philippines has not not taken off the ground in so far as improving the lives of the people is concerned.
At the same time, I couldn’t comprehend why the economic growth figures should be manipulated, if only to show the world the country under the Arroyo administration, has achieved so much. We knew that whoever is at the helm, there is always a tendency for growth figures to be “doctored” by no less than the economic managers themselves, under the nose of the president. To me, this is an old strategy to attract more foreign investments in a land where politics seems to have far outweighed the realistic programs for economic advancement.
To cite a few readings from the book entitled The Science of Economics by Dr. Fred Foldwary: “The ruling elites’ main objective is not to develop their economy but to maintain their privileged status quo…A truly free economy cannot be established unless such crime and corruption is rooted out.”
I do believe that massive poverty is spawned by excessive politics, which is now getting to be a big business in this country, at the expense of the poor, who were tagged by a DILG official as a “pack of hungry wolves…”
Polano
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:45 am
Attn: DENR
Reading Prime Sarmiento’s “Wild-bird smugglers…” article is a case that should not be taken for granted. I have worked in the DENR for a number of years and I knew how it feels to be branded as part of a corrupt government agency of the land. Try to get into the DENR compound in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City and you’ll be surprised to see that most of its employees have fancy cars, similar to those working at the BIR and the Bureau of Customs. I don’t believe that with the level of salary that the DENR personnel are getting, they will have the luxury to buy beautiful cars of their own.
People should not be surprised anymore if environmental regulations are most often violated by those who feel that the government is not capable of running after their illegal operations. Such is the case of wilflife smuggling, which is going on undeterred for so many years, despite the ban on wildlife trading of extinct and exotic species from Palawan and other countries in Asia. Again, if you try to look at it, the problem is the lack of resources so that implementation of these regulations is proven to be futile. But the question will play up in most minds that some DENR officials and employees are in cahoots with wildlife smugglers. If this is the case, how can you stop this kind of smuggling? All I could say is for the DENR to be aware of what is happening around them, instead of sleeping on their jobs and just wait for a manna from heaven. If this goes on, we will awake one day to find that most of our protected wildlife species are gone forever.
Polano
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:19 am
I can only share my sympathy to Mei Magsino-Lubis, a PDI correspondent in Batangas, who is now on the run for exposing corruption in the provincial government under Gov. Sanchez.
I am a journalist myself and I knew how it feels to be intimidated by those in power, particularly by the police and military officials and politicians themselves, who have the influence to hire killers to silence crusading journalists, whose only shield is courage and bravery in the performance of their duties to let the public know of shennanigans in government.
Based on PCIJ’s story, as if Mei Lubis is on her own these days. What is the National Press Club doing to come for her rescue? These past few weeks I could only sense that the NPC has remained inactive for the cause of embattled journalists in the country. I don’t think it is appropriate for the NPC to leave the matter without its intervention. It must do something to help the embattled newshen as a way of showing its humanitarian concern, in tandem with other media organizations. I’m sure the PDI is doing something to help her.
I think it is about time that media organizations should lobby in Congress a law that will eventually authorize bonafide journalists to carry firearms for their protection in the performance of their duties. Of course, this can be done after each journalist has underwent a gun-safety training seminar in Camp Crame.
Alecks Pabico
May 3rd, 2006 at 10:50 am
Thanks for your comments, Polano. May I just request that you put them in the particular posts for proper context? Your last two comments on this post are out of topic.
Juan Makabayan
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:22 pm
I just wonder, if the Apo is alive, how a face-off with GMA would be.
” What are you doing? You low down, shameless copycat!”
or
” Come, let’s have a drink, welcome to the club. Adolf, here my friend, has many nice things to say about you. He’s thinking of having you as honorary chair of his foundation, the Neo-Nazis International.”