An emerging JDV, FVR, GMA triumverate

Most Filipinos have come to accept the fact that their country is going to the dogs and are therefore willing to try almost anything just to have another chance. To some, the planned shift to a parliamentary system under a new constitution provides just such a chance.

Of course, there are just as many Filipinos who believe the plan will not work, saying the current system is already good, only that it has not been given the chance to work as well as it should by the people now running it.

The argument is that it is not the system that is at fault but the people running it. They liken the people now in charge of the current system to mere tuba gatherers who are not expected to become better drivers even if you replace their tricycles with Mercedes Benzes.

Be that as it may, there is probably no stopping the current initiative to change the form of government. Besides, as had been said earlier, We have reached the point where it is easier to try anything just to be able to start from the beginning.

And so here we are, the showcase of democracy in Asia, still unable to make democracy work, now trying to crank up a new engine, probably to the amusement of our less democratic neighbors whose authoritarian type governments have ensured stability, progress and prosperity.

With misgivings and trepidations grudgingly set aside and left behind, we begin to fancy ourselves as a parliamentary government in case the experiment works. We will all finally solve our troubles, the proponents enthuse excitedly.

And with nothing else to hope for except the emergence of a new beginning, we begin to believe in them. Yeah, why not. Let us all have this parliamentary thing done over with so we can move on.

But wait. Must we all dance to the music just because it is the only music playing? Even before we have started the process, long before even the first step had been taken, there are things that have manifested themselves this early that give us cause for pause.

Speaker Jose de Venecia, one of the staunchest proponents for a shift to a parliamentary form of government, was reported recently as having assured President Arroyo that she can stay on until the end of her term in 2010 even if a parliamentary system shall have kicked in before then.

The scenario was reportedly agreed upon by de Venecia himself, President Arroyo, and former president Fidel Ramos. De Venecia said the three of them met to see how a win-win solution could be attained and everybody comes away happy.

There is no doubt that everybody coming away happy is a good thing. What is under question is who gets to decide what is happiness for each of the 87 million Filipinos. Certainly, it cannot be just the three of them.

To be sure, the term of Arroyo is up to 2010, so there is no tampering of her constitutional mandate. The problem is that many do not see her strong enough to withstand the many attempts to oust her.

She may be able to hang on for now and maybe for next year. But there is almost a consensus that she will not last up to the end of her term in 2010. Even if the charges against her are proven all wrong, she has been so weakened by the same charges that she is likely to actually fall.

According to some experts, it is not a question of if but of when. Thus, with the seeming certainty of an abbreviated term, how come de Venecia and Ramos now seem to be brokering an agreement with Arroyo that would enable her to finish her term.

Is this to ensure that what de Venecia and Ramos also want out of the constitutional change will get the backing of Arroyo and her allies? Are they already cutting up the cake even before it has been baked?