Whoa. What a week! So much has happened since Monday, August 11. And even more if we’d go back a week before that — before that fateful day that the “barely” existent Bangsamoro Juridical Entity MOA on Ancestral Domain (BJE MOA on AD) was TRO‘d by the Supreme Court. Discussions here and there, protests in streets, the Beijing Olympics, fighting in Mindanao, the ARMM elections and now Charter Change (ChaCha) has been our usual dose of news lately. We see, read and talk about it all too often that we can somehow say that we’ve probably heard enough. But you and I both know we haven’t. I hear the music playing. Will anyone dance to it?

Well, what do you expect? The BJE is non-executory by itself. We know that. And we are also fully aware of the need for an amendment in the Constitution if we are to satisfy the promises made in the MOA. And as we continue to question the constitutionality, feasibility, effectivity and practicality of the MOA, we are now faced with a dilemma yet again — to dance the ChaCha in the name of peace or to reject the idea altogether for fear of a PGMA “second life”. Unlike before, PGMA now tweets ChaCha in all things related to the BJE MOA and the peace process in Mindanao. She has expressed her intentions of pushing for ChaCha while brushing-off insinuations that this is all a ploy to “open” the Constitution and toy with it as she pleases.

Many will hate me for this but I think there is some truth to the Palace’s statement that those who oppose Federalism are those who have 2010 ambitions. But can you really blame these guys? These guys are panicky as ever especially since, I bet  as early as now, they are already writing their “return gratitude” list for the sponsors lining up to support their bets and in return get immunity and relative power. This is the nature of Philippine politics. I have yet to find a public official who puts his constituents above his political ambition — and I also doubt ever finding one in the near future. That’s how it is then, that’s how it will be in the future. I am a pretty optimistic person, but when it comes to Philippine politics, my optimism just isn’t enough. So, I’m sorry if I can’t join you in that bandwagon of a “united” Philippines — at least in these sense that many promote. I am more of a practical peace advocate. Unity to me transcends the physical, territorial boundaries.  A people united in aspirations and convictions is more appealing to me. A people although “territorially” apart yet peaceful and living together in an ultimately “central government” — as the BJE MOA puts it, is not so bad an idea. Would you rather see incessant fighting than “negotiate”?

Senate Resolution No. 10, which seeks to establish 11 federal states in the country by amending the Constitution through a constituent assembly doesn’t seem all too bad. In fact, many senators have expressed approval for this on a pre-BJE scenario. Only that, now — that the BJE issue came up, they are suddenly changing their minds. They’re are now fumingly upset that PGMA is merely “riding” on this to gain power that will ensure her stay for God knows how long. Sen. Nene Pimentel (one of the few senators I have huge respect for), for one, is upset that a ChaCha will be abused and almost swears that “they”/he will not let that happen. What comforting assurance, right? I mean, seriously. That was a good statement. That was very reassuring. And I believe the Senator. Which brings me to this thought: If we, the sovereign people of the Republic of the Philippines will swear to uphold the Constitution and the rights of the people for which it was made for in the first place, then no threat of a ChaCha being abused should bother us. Why? Because, ultimately, we as a people will have our say. We as a people control our destiny. We decide who sits in office and for how long that person stays there. What are we so afraid of? We’re afraid of PGMA now? We’re afraid of the “power” she might get in effect of ChaCha? Are we even gonna allow that to happen in the first place? She herself vehemently denies that she intends to use it for anything more than the resolution of the issue in Mindanao. She herself has announced several times, that she will step down in 2010. Why do we keep our minds closed to the idea of a ChaCha? Is it because it’s PGMA sitting today? If it were someone else, would we have agreed to ChaCha? Our Constitution, if I remember it right is not even absolute. It is, up until now, open to interpretations. It is also fluid. It is the Constitution itself that tells us that we can “amend” it as necessary, as needed, as required. And obviously, as many of us have seen and realized through these recent events, a ChaCha is the most appropriate, if not the best resolution to the peace problem in Mindanao. A lot of people keep on d<p>Whoa. What a week! So much has happened since <b>Monday</b>, <b>August 11</b>. And even more if we’d go back a week before that — before that fateful day that the “barely” existent <b>Bangsamoro Juridical Entity MOA on Ancestral Domain</b> (<b>BJE MOA on AD</b>) was <b>TRO</b>’d by the <b>Supreme Court</b>. Discussions here and there, protests in streets, the Beijing Olympics, fighting in Mindanao, the ARMM elections and now <b>Charter Change</b> (<b>ChaCha</b>) has been our usual dose of news lately. We see, read and talk about it all too often that we can somehow say that we’ve probably heard enough. But you and I both know we haven’t. I hear the music playing. Will anyone dance to it?</p> <p>Well, what do you expect? The <b>BJE</b> is <i>non-executory by itself</i>. We know that. And we are also fully aware of the need for an amendment in the Constitution if we are to satisfy the promises made in the <b>MOA</b>. And as we continue to question the constitutionality, feasibility, effectivity and practicality of the <b>MOA</b>, we are now faced with a dilemma yet again — to dance the <b>ChaCha</b> in the name of peace or to reject the idea altogether for fear of a <b>PGMA</b> “second life”. Unlike before, <b>PGMA</b> now tweets <b>ChaCha</b> in all things related to the <b>BJE MOA</b> and the peace process in Mindanao. She has expressed her intentions of pushing for <b>ChaCha</b> while brushing-off insinuations that this is all a ploy to “open” the Constitution and toy with it as she pleases.</p> <p>Many will hate me for this but I think there is some truth to the <a href=”http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080813-154443/Palace-Federalism-critics-all-have-2010-ambitions&#8221; mce_href=”http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080813-154443/Palace-Federalism-critics-all-have-2010-ambitions&#8221; target=”_blank”><b>Palace’s statement that those who oppose Federalism are those who have 2010 ambitions</b></a>. But can you really blame these guys? These guys are panicky as ever especially since, I bet  as early as now, they are already writing their “<b>return gratitude</b>” list for the sponsors lining up to support their bets and in return get immunity and relative power. This is the nature of Philippine politics. I have yet to find a public official who puts his constituents above his political ambition — and I also doubt ever finding one in the near future. That’s how it is then, that’s how it will be in the future. I am a pretty optimistic person, but when it comes to Philippine politics, my optimism just isn’t enough. So, I’m sorry if I can’t join you in that bandwagon of a “united” Philippines — at least in these sense that many promote. I am more of a practical peace advocate. Unity to me transcends the physical, territorial boundaries.  A people united in aspirations and convictions is more appealing to me. A people although “territorially” apart yet peaceful and living together in an ultimately “central government” — as the BJE MOA puts it, is not so bad an idea. Would you rather see incessant fighting than “negotiate”? <img src=”http://adayinthelifeofrj.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif&#8221; mce_src=”http://adayinthelifeofrj.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif&#8221; alt=”” class=”mceWPmore mceItemNoResize” title=”More…” /></p> <p><b>Senate Resolution No. 10</b>, which seeks to establish <b>11 federal states in the country</b> by amending the Constitution through a constituent assembly doesn’t seem all too bad. In fact, many senators have expressed approval for this on a pre-BJE scenario. Only that, now — that the BJE issue came up, they are suddenly changing their minds. They’re are now fumingly upset that PGMA is merely “riding” on this to gain power that will ensure her stay for God knows how long. <b>Sen. Nene Pimentel</b> (one of the few senators I have huge respect for), for one, is upset that a ChaCha will be abused and almost swears that “they”/he will not let that happen. What comforting assurance, right? I mean, seriously. That was a good statement. That was very reassuring. And I believe the Senator. Which brings me to this thought: If we, the sovereign people of the Republic of the Philippines will swear to uphold the Constitution and the rights of the people for which it was made for in the first place, then no threat of a ChaCha being abused should bother us. Why? Because, ultimately, we as a people will have our say. We as a people control our destiny. We decide who sits in office and for how long that person stays there. What are we so afraid of? We’re afraid of PGMA now? We’re afraid of the “power” she might get in effect of ChaCha? Are we even gonna allow that to happen in the first place? She herself vehemently denies that she intends to use it for anything more than the resolution of the issue in Mindanao. She herself has announced several times, that she will step down in 2010. Why do we keep our minds closed to the idea of a ChaCha? Is it because it’s PGMA sitting today? If it were someone else, would we have agreed to ChaCha? Our Constitution, if I remember it right is not even absolute. It is, up until now, open to interpretations. It is also fluid. It is the Constitution itself that tells us that we can “amend” it as necessary, as needed, as required. And obviously, as many of us have seen and realized through these recent events, a ChaCha is the most appropriate, if not the best resolution to the peace problem in Mindanao. A lot of people keep on debating about the MOA
being unconstitutional and trashing the BJE MOA altogether but I have yet to hear an ingenious, perfect alternative to this BJE MOA. Have you? It’s like asking PGMA to step down while not even thinking who to put there in her stead. It’s like saying “just step down first and we’ll worry about your replacement later!”. By killing the idea of this BJE MOA from the get go, we are seemingly shouting “just trash that BJE first and we’ll think of an alternative later!”. The clock is ticking, folks! We don’t have the luxury of time.</p> <blockquote><p>Why don’t we gather these brilliant minds now and come up with something more tangible for once. All we hear is talk here, discussion there, debate here, protests there. If we are all eager to have true and lasting peace in Mindanao — which I’d like to believe is true for all parties involved, then let’s stop doing monologues and start doing dialogues. Monoloques are self-serving. And I have read somewhere that “<b>two monologues doesn’t make a dialogue</b>”. That is so true.</p></blockquote> <p>The way I see it, PGMA’s unpopularity has gone too far beyond acceptable limits that it turned us into non-believers, kill-joys, pessimists and cynics — and all other words that would mean the same thing. Due to our dislike, disgust or abbhorence of PGMA, we have made ourselves completely blind to the fact that somehow, there are good policies being conceptualized. We dare not agree to her anymore for fear of being branded pro-PGMA. I have said this many times and will say it again: I am neither pro nor anti-GMA. I am pro-Philippines, pro-democracy, pro-peace and pro-results. It doesn’t matter to me if the most unpopular President will go down in history as the one leaving a peace legacy. It doesn’t matter to me which President does it. What matters to me, ultimately, is that peace is achieved. So that we can move forward. So that Mindanao can move forward.</p> <p>So, you think she can dance? I say so long as we’re vigilant, no one can trick us. So long as it doesn’t go beyond resolution of the BJE MOA issue — let her dance. Just as long as we make sure that it’ll be her last.</p>