Chacha again?

The latest surprise from Malacañang is President Arroyo's statement few days ago that she was creating a panel to craft a "road map" to federalism for the country. In effect, this was a declaration on the revival of her Charter change initiative launched last year. Why the sudden switch back to a highly controversial move? Malacañang just stirred a hornet's nest with its splash of cash on its legislative and LGU disciples. Right now headlines are screaming with stories on this latest faux pas of the Pasig office. What's happening? Is Malacañang intentionally steering itself towards a collision course with its critics? Last year its Chacha cum people's initiative was shot down by the Supreme Court. Church groups joined by cause- oriented klatches actually put up a massive rally against the move, only to be blunted by PGMA's last minute declaration of Chacha moratorium.  

Some observers believe that Malacañang is trying to draw people's attention away from the foul smell of NBN and CEP deals. With her group's unity already shattered by the de Venecia expose, the Abalos resignation and the rumored bean-spilling by CHED Chairman Neri, PGMA's political staff must have cooked up the idea for this purpose. Chacha has sounded obnoxious to the opposition and even to neutral groups because of the fear that it could be used by those in power to perpetuate themselves in their command posts. The senators, for their part get nightmares every time they hear Chacha because of the possibility of losing their jobs once a unicameral body is installed. And their fear has basis because with their fetish towards time-consuming inquiries spiced with personal grandstanding the people are simply disgusted with them.

But Chacha sugar-coated with federalism is another thing. And this is precisely the premise of PGMA's new Chacha exercise. In fact, before opening her mouth to articulate this controversial issue she first talked of federalism as the new direction of her administration. In earlier Chacha moves, federalism was seldom mentioned. Parliamentary governance was the name of the game, itself a very divisive issue. No wonder the senators would have none of it. Now with federalism as Chacha catcall, will this new initiative prosper? Will the Senate catch the bait? Will the mainstream of the populace create the needed surge? We hope it will.

However, trust is a basic ingredient for people's support of major government endeavors. When a leader tries to lead them to an unfamiliar terrain, they will follow without raising their eyebrows if they trust him or her. The Israelites gathered behind Moses because they knew they would lead them to the land of milk and honey. There were doubters, for sure, but the prophet's good intention won them to his side.

Do Filipinos still trust PGMA? Scandal after scandal has been trumpeted against her. Her critics from all sectors, including the media, have done all they could to demonize her. Still she is where she is. As if unperturbed, she still leads this country with its strongest economic growth in three decades, with its peso appreciating by more than 20 percent vis-à-vis the dollar in the last three years, with investors' confidence riding high. Despite a survey finding that only three out of 10 Filipinos approve her performance, still GMA leads. Does this mean the people still trust her? Not necessarily so. The fact that her senatoriables got smothered in this year's balloting is evidence of this.

Chacha aimed at federalism may seem a good thing. Many right-thinking Filipinos believe federalism could push this country to a higher level of development. It could be the key to unbridle the potentials of regional leadership to make this more responsive to the needs of its constituents. Freed from the intervention of centralized authority, it can motivate local leaders to innovate on various areas of governance particularly in human resource management, in resource utilization, and in productivity, all aimed at improving the people's quality of life.

But these come on towards this political system cannot upset the prevailing mistrust of many towards PGMA's leadership. Enticing as federalism is they cannot dismiss the idea that the means to attain it can be used to preserve the power line of the President and her political allies. There will therefore be a strong undercurrent of anti Chacha sentiments. Even the advocates of federalism could be lukewarm to dance the music of Malacañang this time. Perhaps, later, under other proponents, the plan could gain their support.