The real danger

It may have been fortuitous that President GMA faces impeachment at the same time that she is set to lay out a program to fulfill what she herself has promised — charter change. When I saw her recently, she said, "I am on time". She may be, but recent events have changed that initial commitment. It has become more urgent, even necessary for her political salvation. More importantly, it can make or unmake this country. The two issues have become inseparable from each other. She may be the accused but she is also the savior. To put it bluntly, she will have to carry the yoke of failed attempts in the past for a systemic change that might have moved this country forward. Because it has been put off time and again by selfish vested interests, the Constitution’s bad effects have pushed the country to the brink.

Unless it is done now, we may never have the same opportunity again. Among some of GMA’s critics, I know at least one or maybe two who have joined the Opposition because they are afraid she may renege on her promise to effect charter change in her time. Being human, the President can be easily lulled into deceiving herself that when the crisis is over, it can be business as usual. That would be tragic because there will be no other time for her. Even if she finishes her term under the present system, she will drag the country down because of constitutional infirmities that we have not confronted. The President might be right in focusing on the economy. But a country’s well-being and success is only partly measured by GNPs, closing budget deficits or any other economic standards.

Ironically, the Opposition wittingly or unwittingly, is playing a valuable role for the Filipino nation. Its attacks and threats against President GMA is the counterforce needed to help her stay the course and strengthen her resolve not to slide back to the status quo. The power of the status quo cannot be underestimated because it lurks in every aspect of our lives. Its main weapon is inertia, the pull against change. It takes a heroic character to push the country past the barrier of that inertia and across the Rubicon. That is the real challenge to President GMA when she sets forth to give the state of the nation message tomorrow. Her stubborn character will be her most important ally in this effort, and that she does not shirk from the difficulties of the mission fate has given her – to bring this country perhaps kicking and screaming into modern times.

Very early on, when I had just begun writing this column, I used a favorite metaphor of the late Senator Raul Manglapus to describe how we could resist the persisting American influence on the Philippines. If America is the father, he said, we will have to slay the father. That denotes violence to ourselves before we can be on our own. It may be a shocking metaphor but it drives the point. It aptly describes what it takes to get on with our future. It will be wrenching and difficult but it needs to be done. The myth of slaying the father has its origins in many prehistoric cultures. A man could never achieve manhood if he clings to his father. He will have to sever from his past to face the challenges of the future.

That also is what charter change will mean to this country. To push the country to tackle the reforms we need, we have to start thinking out of the box (a milder form of killing the father!). If and when President GMA declares tomorrow that she will preside over this momentous phase of our history, she will usher in even more difficult times for the country. But in doing so, she will perform her duty as the leader of this country in these perilous times. She must not shirk from change and more importantly, she must also lead the people not to shirk from change. The tasks ahead will require patience, hard work and sacrifice to bring the country out of the morass. It is time that we work as one nation. If we aim for a future we can be proud to bequeath to generations after us, we will have to commit the very best of ourselves.

Every Filipino has something to contribute, from the lowly street cleaner to the President. We must dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of excellence. This pursuit of excellence has been gnawing in the minds of many patriotic Filipinos here and around the world – if only they could be given the chance to prove their worth. But the unitary presidential system had closed the doors for many us and has become the exclusive enclave of those who have wealth, privilege or celebrity popularity. What we have is a caricature of democracy. The electoral system is such that an actor or celebrity wins the exalted position of presidency by virtue of name recall or money to buy votes. That is the basis of the elected celebrity’s claim (like the deposed Erap) to a false leadership of the poor without any real program of government that would help them. That might well have been the case if FPJ had won.

The work ahead will be excruciatingly difficult. We will have to close ranks as a nation. It will not be a field day. Again and again critics of charter change have said ‘reforming the Constitution will not change things, we will have the same problems with the same politicians.’ Maybe. But then we will have only ourselves to blame.

Under a federal system with a parliamentary government, the basis of selection through party programs will alter the political landscape. Whether it is the Lakas-CMD or the Liberal Party, parties and their programs are what will elect MPs who will in turn choose among the winning party members who should be Prime Minister. The local MP will have direct access to his constituents and will answer to them about local concerns. At the same he is also answerable to the constituency of the Parliament. In both cases, the political environment of the elected official is confined to a manageable size.

Charter change advocates have never presumed that constitutional reforms in themselves would solve the problems of the country or will it make saints out of men. It will only mean adopting a structure which is more transparent and accountable. It will not eliminate problems but it will be a better way of dealing with them.

Parliamentary federal government is a modern structure that has been adopted in practically all the nations of the world. The danger remains. But I mean another kind of danger. Although it is still touch and go if President GMA can overcome the test of impeachment, the greater danger is if she does win, she will slacken in her resolve to change our political system. That will need sacrifice. It is a personal call. Personal motives can very easily come in the way of heroic leadership. The greater danger to President GMA’s government is her self. The Opposition plays the role akin to the chorus in dramatic tragedy, egging her on to what her fate might be.

The Opposition has its own agenda, and by a twist of fate it could gain the upper hand. Filipinos will have to balance across a tight rope between giving President GMA enough time and support to shift the country to parliamentary federal government and at the same time ensure the Opposition’s accusations will be heard without necessarily supporting their objectives.

My e-mail is [email protected]