Sabi ni Bistek na isa sa dahilan kung bakit raw dapat palitan ang Constitution natin (to Arroyo's version) ay para mawala na raw ang "gridlock." Translation: What he and other pro cha cha supporters want is to get rid of the "checks and balance" in our system, so that the illegimate president can do whatever she wants without being challenged -- just like marcos.
And IIRC, gridlock wasn't a big issue panahon ni Cory, Ramos at Erap and even during Arroyo's first term as president. in fact, maganda ang working relationship ni maam Arroyo at ng senate majority, led by franklin drilon.
But I guess you can say na mas grabe at halata ang "gridlock" ngayon... pero hindi naman ito kasalanan ng senado, kundi dahil puro stonewalling ang ginagawa ng malacanang ever since nabuking sila sa GLORIAGATE scandal at naging questionable ang legitimacy ni Maam. And of course, arroyo's EO 464 did not help matters at all.
so, wala namang problem sa sistema natin dati eh. yung malacanang occupant ang may problema, kaya gusto na ng mga kaalyado ni arroyo na i-abolish ang senado.
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Sen. Serge Osmena reveals documented Palace plot to rig Cha Cha
Backed up by Malacañang documents showing the mapping up the scheme on the signature drive through the people’s initiative, which bared the Palace’s fingerprints all over it, a senator yesterday disclosed the probability of the Senate calling for a referendum or a plebiscite for the Filipino electorate to decide on whether to hold snap elections to end President Arroyo’s time in Malacañang.
Sen. Sergio Osmeña lll yesterday said: “This is going to be a referendum on her performance because we see this as a dirty trick that they’re trying to pull a fast one on the Filipino people, all of them,” he said in reference to the ongoing efforts of Malacañang to rig a constitutional change, explaining that on the contrary, instead of signatures for Cha-cha, the public sentiment on her continued stay in power will be reflected as the end result.
“She (Mrs. Arroyo) is looking beyond 2010. As far as we’re concerned, if you are pro-Cha-cha, you want her to stay for life, if you’re anti-Cha-cha, you want her to step down,” he said.
“That is her doing…of course it benefits her. It will allow her to stay in power for life,” the senator stressed.
Apart from the Senate’s move virtually declaring the ongoing signature drive or people’s initiative as illegal in their signed Resolution 478, senators are prepared to go on a collision course with Malacañang by engaging in similar public forums, and gathering signatures to counter Cha-cha.
“I think we will have our own signature campaign for an amendment to the Constitution allowing snap elections, if a majority in the Senate call for snap elections,” Osmeña said.
“We might even come up with a bigger number of signatures…we could start today or tomorrow.
“The members of the Senate, at least, agreed to be more active in discussing this in public forum, that’s number one.”
Osmeña also corroborated charges on Malacañang’s involvement in the ongoing signature campaign under the guise of people’s initiative, baring documents showing a well-mapped-out scheme on the signature drive, saying as much as P500 to P1,000 is being “given” to each signatory-voter.
Read the whole thing.
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DILG operators caught faking Cha-cha ‘yes’ votes
Malacañang’s poll cheating operators are back at work again, this time manufacturing the signatures for Charter change (Cha-cha) through the people’s initiative, and done at the old Byron Hotel, which has been renamed the Horizon Hotel in Edsa.
GMA-7 cameras yesterday caught Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) officials at the hotel while their operators were carting away several boxes, believed to be the documents bearing the faked signatures, but in their haste to be caught by the TV crew, left one box behind.
During the canvassing of presidential votes and even after the proclamation by Congress of President Arroyo as the President-elect, certificates of canvass (CoC) were being manufactured and election returns altered by her poll operators, to ensure Mrs. Arroyo’s victory. There were also break-ins at the House of Representatives where ballot boxes were reportedly carted off and said to be taken to the home of former Commission on Elections (Comelec) officer lawyer Roque Bello for the switching of election returns.
All these previous cheating incidents were caught on camera and audio tapes, from which serious political instability stemming from a legitimacy issue of Mrs. Arroyo’s presidency has been plaguing the nation.
GMA-7 in its primetime news, identified the DILG official as Rolando Acosta. There were several other DILG officers as well at the hotel.
Huli ka!
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Neal Cruz on why this is the worst to to Cha cha cha...
THERE ARE many reasons why we should not change our Constitution now. One is the motive of those who want to change it. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wants to use it to cling to power. Speaker Jose de Venecia wants to be prime minister because he knows he will never be elected president. Former President Fidel V. Ramos wants to go back as chief executive through the prime ministership. The congressmen, governors and mayors want their terms extended. In short, their motives are selfish. Although they cite other reasons, it is clear to everybody that it is to benefit themselves that they want to change the Constitution. This is the worst reason to change it.
The framers of all our constitutions recognized the temptation of lawmakers to abuse their powers and pass laws that would benefit themselves. That is why there is a provision in the Charter that laws passed by Congress (such as increasing their salaries) cannot apply to them but become effective only after the election of a new set of legislators. Following the spirit of the Constitution, that should also apply to the writers of a new Charter. They should not benefit from the Charter that they themselves wrote.
Another reason that we should not change the Constitution at this time is the brazenness of the administration in using all means to achieve its ends. Bribery, in cash and in kind, is being used on everybody who would accept the bribes. A free three-year extension for local government officials, cash for barangay officials, jobs for relatives and friends of politicians, cash and food items to the poor herded to the barangay halls to sign the petition for a people's initiative.
Bribes, sacks of rice and more bribes. That's the best way to get the "people's intitiative" going.
Malaya Editorial: A regime of rule-breakers
See what ruthlessness in pursuit of self-interest can do? Gloria Arroyo is in perennial danger of being impeached for stealing and buying votes in 2004 and for the continuing cover-up of the original crime. The solution: Scrap Congress and the impeachment process through a shift to a parliamentary system. The immediate danger is eliminated. The bonus is the possibility of staying in power beyond 2010.
Ruthless indeed.
More here from Ellen Tordesillas. Check out MLQ's too.
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Senate to reopen investigation on Venable contract... even though our favorite fencesitting senator, Joker ARroyo is having second thoughts about taking up the issue again.
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