Con-com consultations: Mendiola in Cebu!

The Philippine STAR headline last Monday blared, "Palace pushes Cha-cha debates." That’s exactly what we got in Cebu, a taste of the first debates on this very issue. During the presscon for the official launching of the consultations of the Consultative Commission (con-com), Prof. Jose Abueva, its chairman, said their mandate is "to study reforms in the Constitution in order to bring good governance so we can achieve a just, humane and prosperous society." Well, that’s what we’ve been asking for since we started writing columns in The Freeman and The Philippine STAR… real, honest-to-goodness political reforms so this country can change for the better!

Political reforms are what we need today, not that stupid proposal by those political idiots, the lags of Bro. Mike Velarde and the Hyatt 10, who are asking for "snap elections." We had snap elections against President Ferdinand Marcos… did that change things for the better? We overthrew the Marcos dictatorship… did that result in better governance for the Philippines? We threw out the corrupt Erap presidency… what has it brought us? Only more woes!

What we need is not a new President, but real political reforms and for the first time since 1986, we have the golden opportunity to aim for this goal through the Consultative Commission, which started doing its job yesterday here in Cebu City. In fact, due to time constraints since it has to submit a report to the President before Dec. 15, the con-com has divided itself into three separate teams — Team "A," headed by Jose Leviste, will proceed to Zamboanga and Palawan from Cebu; Team "B," headed by my dear friend Mrs. Joji Ilagan-Bian, will proceed to Iloilo and Davao; and Team "C," headed by Rita Jimeno, will go to Tacloban and Cagayan de Oro after the Cebu consultations.

In last Monday’s presscon, we got a taste of the debates on what form of government we ought to adopt. Somehow, the parliamentary system was acceptable to the majority, except for Biliran Mayor Gerry Espina Sr. who believes in retaining the presidential system, insisting that a parliamentary system would only bring forth a new scourge, which he calls a dictatorship by political parties. He was referring to the decade’s control of the LDP in the Japan Diet or the Congress I Party in India. I may agree with him on that note, but in a presidential system during the time of the Marcos dictatorship, the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) was the "party dictator."

Gov. Victor Ortega of La Union gave the best pitch, saying that with his long political experience, he felt that it was time to shift to a parliamentary/federal system of government, giving all elected officials time to finish their respective terms. He believes in a 10-year transition period to give our elected officials a graceful exit.

Many con-com members came out strongly for what they believe in. Others even came out openly protecting their own political turfs, jeopardizing any effort to shift to a federal system of government. I’m referring to most, not all, of the governors who are members of the con-com, who are scared that if we create federal states, the provinces would disappear… so, too, with their political careers!

Yesterday’s consultation began with Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña giving the opening statements, expressing hope that the participants would get out of this consultations enlightened rather than confused. After Prof. Abueva and Lito Monico Lorenzana explained the process, the 400 plus participants, who came from various sectors like labor, academe, NGOs, fisherfolk, farmers’ groups, the business sector, the IBP or lawyers’ groups, and indigenous groups like the colorful Datu Alimaong, broke into three discussion groups for a three-hour debate.

There was a workshop on the form of government, another on national patrimony and economic reforms, and also on the structure of government. I concentrated on the last workshop on the structure of government since the main question presented was whether to retain the present unitary form of government or shift to a federal form. Rey Magno Teves chaired this workshop and allowed discussion from both sides, meaning from the commissioners and the audience.

Indeed, it was a healthy debate with everyone giving out his piece of mind on this issue. This is why no one in Cebu would say that the con-com is a rubber stamp of the President or Congress since diverse views were given their allotted time to surface. In the end, we all decided to vote on what system of government we should adopt, and the results, as reported by UP Prof. Fely Etemadi, showed that 58 participants in that workshop voted for a federal system, seven voted to retain the unitary system, while five abstained.

The other workshops did not end up voting for a particular system, but it was overwhelming that the group that voted on the structure of government wanted a parliamentary system. All told, the fear of the participants was whether the con-com would be able to deliver what was expressed in the Pacific Ballroom of the Waterfront Hotel. Prof. Abueva assured the participants that the President and Congress would hear the voice of Central Visayas through the con-com.

At this point, I can say that we have a con-com that is doing its mandate, going around the provinces to get the reactions, suggestions and yes, including the criticisms of the Filipino people. I sat down with fellow columnist Mrs. Chit Pedrosa who told me that she was amazed at the level of awareness of the participants. How I wished that our fellow STAR columnists Jarius Bondoc and Alex Magno were also there. But yes, thanks to a vibrant media — radio, TV and print — most Cebuanos are aware of the issues, especially Charter change.

What happened in Cebu during the consultations was our "Mendiola," where the participants agreed to disagree, but are united in their effort to change our government through these consultations, while drinking water in the ballroom. In Mendiola, you get doused with water! I got the same reactions from the con-com members, who expressed hope that the consultations in the other provinces would be as high-level as the one they had in Cebu.

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For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.