Cha-cha, postponing elections might lead to Arroyo downfall

It is unfortunate, sickening, and agonizing how the legitimate issues of Charter Reform have been massacered by personalities and politicians who are obviously, perpetually anti-Arroyo.

When will Charter Reform have its chance? When will you let the people decide?

The truth is. in advocating Charter Reforms, the administration will benefit. The other truth, which the opposition is not admitting is, in derailing moves towards Charter Reforms, politicians who lust for presidential powers would benefit.

It does not help that self-styled pundits who write these articles have been equating Charter Change with Term Extension, No Election, and Martial Law. My golly, not all Filipinos are dumb not to see the fallaciousness of arguments against Charter Change. The Charter issue is beyond Gloria Macapagal. It is the property and the struggle of the Filipino people, not all of whom subscribe to myopic doomsday anti-charter rants.

The challenge to Mr. Keh is to make a proffer of forward and positive solutions to contribute to consensus building and to dialogue. But to kill legitimate reform issues as regards the Charter using the words argument in this article is a great disservice to the future of the country.

I am in favor of the Liberal Party's proposal for constitutional change, which calls for the election of delegates for the constitutional convention along side with the May 2010 elections. It is a given that every Filipino wants to amend the Philippine Constitution, and the most acceptable proposal by the people is a constitution convention after May 2010. No one can alter this simple fact.

I still personally believe that time can only tell when our people finally speak for themselves. I welcome that moment when GMA and her allies reap their rewards for their blutant disregard of what is right and being morally bankrupt.

Lets wait for developments. People might get tired of the abuses of these tonggressmen. Who knows they might learn the meaning of linching

Pride comes before the fall.

Gloria's hubris!

We, filipinos have to act in solidarity to overthrow the illigitimate president of the coward and corrupt congressmen. These congressmen should all be put to jail when macapagal arroyo will be overthrown.

Hi I agree but it's sad to say that the "devil" has already broken the spirits of our people. This is the legacy of this presidency a broken nation willing to be manipulated to their own detriment.
I still do hope however that we will wake up and stand to say never once more.

I totally agree with your perspective in trying to present all the possible things that can happen if Congress-the Lower House in particular-will insist in trying to amend the constitution by convening themselves as a constituent assembly via three-fourths votes of all its members voting as one entity. But such an interpretation to this part of the amendment has drawn a lot of controversy not only on the part of the Senate but to many sectors of the Filipino community and the Church as well. The Senate, which is the other part of Congress contend to voting separately and by calling a constitutional convention.Hence, a crisis in the interpretation of the law emerges. The Supreme Court should not be dilly dallying on this important issue before its too late.They should not under estimate the outrage of the Filipino people that may eventually lead to chaos or coup.
It is very clear, Harvey, just as you have presented it, there are two proposals in amending or revising the constitution; via a three-fourths votes of all the members of Congress and through a constitutional convention. Why the hell, these clique of passionless sycophant lawmakers insist on a proposal that's full of controversy and not just adhere to the con-con option. The more they are adding to the troubles of the president. Even then, the notion of any charter change is not being supported
by the majority of Filipinos here and abroad, because we still believe we wanted to be governed more by good people than by good laws.
We should have learned through the American way.Presidents come and go, 44 of them in more than two centuries ago. Each of their personalities and policies leaves a mark on the office, some more enduring than others.But change in the presidency flows within channels created by their Constitution of 1787, a plan of government little changed since then by amendment. The combination of change and continuity is one of the hallmarks of the American political system as embodied
in the president- it is always a CHANGING OFFICE but never for an EXTENDING TERM for the office of a President.
Underneath all the political turbulence experienced by America still lies the constitutional endurance that its framers invented more than two centuries ago.
Americans always say "PRESIDENTS COME AND GO, BUT THE CONSTITUTION ENDURES".
The growing sentiments of the Filipinos against cha-cha can be manifested in our everyday conversations in all parts of the world.If 'bailout' becomes the word of the year for America, 'cha-cha' is for the Philippines.Globally speaking, we always never support any form of charter change, especially just to serve the interest of one individual and few of its people.
"Nabuking na sila sa kanilang ipinaplanong pag-extend nang termino ni Pres. Arroyo, gusto pa nilang i-extend ang pagka-fg ni Mike.
Evidently, the Filipinos are already tired of the troubles of the Arroyo presidency.Her era has suffered a lot of political difficulty. From the time she assumed office in succeeding ERAP at the start of the first decade of the 21st century, the inchoate moment of her presidency was also in trouble. And now, she is more likely, at the closing of the first decade of this same century, to follow the destiny of his predecessor, if she will let her cohorts push through this charter change and postpone the elections.
The public opinion now is, she doesn't even deserve an incentive of an extended term of office because of her low popularity rating and unfaithful performance of her duties as president.

I hope that Gloria and co. will succeed in their brazen push for charter change. Not because I support her, but so people will wake up and get up in arms and finally evict the squatters in the Palace by Pasig river.

The fall of the present administration can be seen clearly in the coming days ahead.The filipino people are not that stupid not to know what is the hidden agenda of the charter change.They felt betrayed by the politicians who are selling their conscience in exchange of fat pork barrels that they will receive..sobra na tama na, that is the call of the people that if the administration will not heed.. then,their days are counted..all administrations are going but GMA's wants hasty exit..nagmamadali sila..

The fiendish plan of Gloria Arroyo and those who have been dancing attendance to her are actually concocting a Recipe for Disaster. As in the past, Gloria Arroyo has always defied the constitution and has shown, time and again that she does not have any respect for it. Machiavellian indeed is her way of governance. Her cohorts are taking the heat and are never aware that an 800- pound gorilla is ready to destroy them. Woe to Gloria and her men fridays!

Yes, this is a true statement, where this PGMA movement is a sign of katotohanan na ayaw niyang humarap sa justicia sa congress, kaya tama si joey de venecia that everyone in the philippines is for sale, kung si PGMA walang kasalanan, then she dont need to bribe the congress of 500 hundred thousand pesos of miracle supot, that Governor Ed Panlilio recieved, at this moment wala nang magawa tayong lahat dahil sa sinabi ni Joey na tayong lahat ay puedeng bilhin. sa internet na lang tayo magsalita dahil hindi ito mabibili dahil libre lang, ang sakit lang nito pati ang ating electronic politician na si Senator Trillanes ay hindi makapagsalita dahil pati ang freedom to express in the internet about PGMA legacy is also kinukulong, kaya wala na tayong magawa diyan kundi manahimik at maghihintay na lang ng grasya sa diyos.

I'm all for cha-cha, even before 2010 but with one provision - all presidential, VP, prime minister wannabes should be subject to a height requirement. Say 5'10" and above?

Eight years of a President, so be it bad or good is more than enough.
I had supported GMA all along because I do believed she has the qualifications and credentials of a strong leader to pull our nation from economic stagnation, but I will agree with the rest that she should be allowed to finished her term in 2010, and then let the democratic process to push through as scheduled and let other potential leaders to lead.
But for our nation's sake, let us elect young idealistic leaders..let us stop our division on political bickerings and I hope we can put an end to traditional politics that had push down our beloved country for so long..

IMPEACHMENT is supposed to be a constitutional process to remove a president accused of wrong doing. It is good in theory but impractical to apply in partisan politics because unscrupulous politicians consider impeachment a political process and therefore they do not think they are bound by any judicial code. Watch how politicians lie about it and say this in your face without batting an eye.

Impeachment efforts against Erap and GMA failed because devious congressmen and senators allied to the president had successfully circumvented this constitutional process. And it will always fail whenever the House and Senate are subservient to the president. This is one issue that should be rectified in the charter change. As there is check and balance between the Legislature and the Executive, there ought to be a check and balance also between the House and Senate. I would rather have the Supreme Court find a solution on how political partisanship should have no part in impeachment deliberations than leave the issue to both houses to resolve.

One point I take issue with writer Harvey Keh is about testimonies of witnesses as sole bases for impeachment. Owing to the dirty nature of Philippine politics where false testimonies are easily obtained from paid witnesses and witnesses with highly questionable political motives, it becomes vital that testimonies be supported by documentary evidence. It is tragic enough that a perceived corrupt president was saved from impeachment by her allies in Congress, but it will be doubly tragic if an honest president is impeached in a conspiracy of the majority in Congress not allied to the president and is removed simply on false testimonies of witnesses. There are so many witnesses for hire as there are paid killers around that one cannot afford to take anybody’s testimony hook, line and sinker.

As for charter change, I favor it essentially for economic reforms specifically to hasten the entry of foreign investments and amend those archaic constitutional provisions in order to make the country become competitive in the present global trade. For me, it is extremely important to stir up the economy in order to create jobs for Filipinos so our precious skilled workers can do their part in nation building instead of building the economic infrastructures of other countries. But time has run out for this government to amend the Constitution besides strong resentment to it because of the negative aspect of this government’s motives which many find objectionable. Rather than con-ass which people suspect as subject to manipulation by the present administration, it is best that the current House and Senate pass a joint resolution calling for election of delegates to a constitutional convention for charter change coinciding with the 2010 presidential election. This will remove any doubt that GMA and her allies in Congress are motivated to extend their terms of office.

"Nakakahiya Pilipinas". . .we already lost our pride & dignity in this world. . lives of filipinos are becoming more harder and deepen. .CHA CHA dance of GMAs is not the solution (bagay yan ay "Tinikling") . .I agree. .all her allies should be accounted and put in jail.

I had hope for our country after the first People Power. It was one moment in history when we could truly say we are proud to be Filipinos. Then we had to do it again...and again...and who knows how many times our countrymen marched out on the streets with the intent of ousting whoever it was that they themselves elected into power to begin with. We managed to take that one historic moment and turn it into a parody of sorts. And yet, we continue to elect the same people into power year after year as if nothing happened. As a people, we never learn. At some point, I began to believe that we got exactly what we deserve. We cannot institute change if we allow the very people that we condemn for thievery and corruption to steal and take advantage of us over and over again. I could write whatever I want in this space but I am only one voice out of so many. The song may have said one voice is all it takes. I'm afraid with people as stubborn as we are, that's just not possible. I see a light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, the light is just that of the train coming towards us.

If we can not start from the grassroots by eliminating the graft and corruption in our government our country political status will be in a very stable equilibrium. Our only way to good governance by the people and to the people is to eradicate corruption in our government. In this forms everybody will be benefited not only people in the government but also the poorest of the poor, we can do this by helping the government to the right course. Even how good is our law if it is run by evil that is simply destructive to all of us Filipinoes, let us start by choosing the right ruler from barangay kagawad to the President of our nation. That is simple and very easy to do it diba Bossing Juan de La Cruz.!!!