Cha-cha gone to the dogs

Genuine constitutional reform is dead. As with the People’s Initiative before it, the Constituent Assembly has turned into a partisan sideshow to the midterm election. Even the push for Constitutional Convention is only a political ploy. Both factions of the political class have reduced the issue to mutual survival.

On one side, proponents of Con-Ass no longer talk of lofty aims like true federal autonomy or full economic liberalization. For them it’s now all only about shifting to parliamentary – with its tantalizing bonuses.

As worded, the push solely for unicameral parliament would have all congressmen and senators sitting in an interim body up to December 2007. No matter what they say to the contrary, congressmen from both the ruling and opposition blocs covet this six-month extension of tenure. Same with the 12 senators whose terms should end in June. Each day’s delay of the May 2007 election spells for them savings of campaign expenses. Potential rivals for office would only seethe helplessly. For the ruling party, delay would also mean more time to prepare against an opposition onslaught that surveys are beginning to foretell.

Since parliament would fuse the executive and legislative branches, the President will serve in the interim as head of state and of government. A Prime Minister will be elected from among the congressmen and senators turned MPs (members of parliament). The PM would be largely ceremonial; he will be head of the Cabinet, but not of government that a real parliament empowers. But that’s of no import. What matters is that the President would reign over a combined legislature – a crucial breathing spell for one who almost lost the post in the past two Julys.

On the other side, the opponents of Con-Ass offer Con-Con as alternative. They profess to be for Charter Change, "but only if done the right way." That right way is, for them, electing delegates to amend or revise within a set budget and deadline. But as in anything concocted by politicos, there’s a catch.

As worded, the opposition’s idea of Con-Con is to have two delegates elected per district. There’s vigorous lobbying to make it three per. The point, as agreed upon during a recent court-approved furlough that turned into a political powwow, is that Charter reform truly is needed. The system no longer is working; if things deteriorate, only the extreme Left or Right would win in a violent power grab, and all politicos would lose their necks. An elected Con-Con is convenient, especially if with three delegates per district, because then the opposition would be able to field in that separate election the many hopefuls it would have to junk from the congressional and local fights. The draft for that sort of Con-Con – two to three discards for every district – already is circulating to overwrite the one with no hidden agenda filed years ago. To equalize perks for the discards, the Con-Con will have a three-year tenure, just like Congress and local posts.

The anti-Con-Ass are banking on the big demonstration next Friday to push their Con-Con. Buoying their spirits is word that bishops from the Catholic church and Iglesia ni Cristo, along with the El-Shaddai, will lead the protests. But that’s only for show. Behind the scenes, religious leaders are working on the President to junk Con-Ass, in exchange for guaranteed political peace till 2010 that they will extract from her foes. The opposition is only too willing to grant the President that. They may have an electoral edge in popularity and acceptability, but it still takes gold to win.

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Customs police finally have located the importer of banned Chinese pork – at a new office. Even if they were not found, Customs men believe, the last known address of Asia Golden Ark Marketing would be sufficient for prosecutors to file charges of smuggling.

In the wake of the confiscation of four 40-foot container vans of pork mislabeled as frozen mackerel, investigators at first could not locate Asia Golden at its given address at 539 San Rafael St., Mandaluyong City. That was the address stated in its importer’s certificate of accreditation issued by Customs on June 20, 2006. Neither could they find the company at its other listed address of 45-C Pinatubo St., also in Mandaluyong.

It turned out that Asia Golden had moved to 603 VOS Bldg., Boni Avenue, still in Mandaluyong, Customs police reported to Deputy Commissioner Celso Templo. The transfer was made on June 14, while its application for accreditation was pending. Subpoenas will now be sent to this address for the firm and its officers to answer charges of technical smuggling in masking as fish the 100,000 kilos of banned diseased pork.

The listed incorporators and directors of Asia Golden are Henry O, Grace and Crisostomo Madrid, Welvin Dacera, and Ana Margarita Conde. They had paid-up capital of P6,250 in 2001. Since then Asia Golden has been in large-scale importing of onions and vegetables from China, and reportedly had brought in banned eggs from that country. Customs conservatively estimated the four vans of pork at P6 million.

Also, the office that screens applicants for accreditation reported to Customs chief Napoleon Morales that Asia Golden holds office at both San Rafael Street and Boni Avenue. Coursed through legal services head Reynaldo Umali, the memo of Mary Grace Tecson Malabed stated that they had verified this prior to filing of criminal charges.

The shipment eventually was stolen while in the custody of the private Sigma Seven Warehouse, which reports to Morales through his chief of staff. The NBI is conducting a separate probe.

Morales on Wednesday inspected another shipment of banned Chinese pork, consigned to Shandong Jimei Imports, which arrived within days in Aug. of Asia Golden’s vans. Similarly mis-declared as frozen fish, the cargo was estimated at P4 million.

To appease local planters and hog raisers, Morales also formed an agricultural consultative council that would meet with industry leaders. Aside from monitoring prices of imported agricultural produce during the Christmas holidays, the council would assist in the drive against smugglers of banned farm yields.

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