The Institute of Bangsamoro Studies
On Issues on Charter Change: Parliamentary Form of Government and Federalism
by:Maulana M. Alonto( Go to Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 )
:: Bangsamoro Forum No.2
Let me begin by stating my personal conviction.
As a Muslim who belongs to the Bangsamoro, I stand on the viewpoint that the current move to amend or change the present constitution of the Philippines, or charter change (ChaCha) for short, is a political matter that is internal to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Filipino people. I subscribe to the principled position that the Bangsamoro as a nation has nothing to do, nor should it have anything to do, with ChaCha.
For the sake of discussion, however, let me set aside this position for a moment and examine what this controversy on ChaCha is all about and look at the much-debated issues it has engendered among the Filipinos, namely, the proposed shift to parliamentary form of government and/or federalism. It would also be of much use for us to understand the political dynamics that animates this move to change the Philippine constitution.
Since the 90s, a number of cause-oriented groups, each with its own advocacy, has been lobbying for changing the existing presidential form of government of the Philippines under the 1987 Constitution or what is commonly known as the ‘Cory Constitution’. There is the group that advocates a shift to parliamentary form minus federalism; there is another group that wants federalism without going into the parliamentary form with the United States as an example; and then there is this group that seeks a shift to both parliamentary form and federalism similar to what Malaysia and other countries have adopted. Early on, much as hard lobbying was made by these groups to have the present Philippine constitution changed according to their desired respective models, none of these groups, however, had really managed to seriously influence the decision-making officials of this country, particularly the sitting president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The real genesis of the current political move to go into ChaCha came in the presidential campaign of 2004. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was prevailed upon by ambitious political allies like former president Fidel V. Ramos and Speaker Jose de Venecia to include ChaCha in her campaign platform ostensibly to give luster to her program of government and make her palatable to the electorate and thus enable her to win over a more popular political adversary, the late movie actor Fernando Poe, Jr.
When Arroyo, however, ‘won’ the election, ChaCha was consigned to the backburner by her regime. Arroyo was never keen on pursuing ChaCha knowing that this issue does not sit well with some sectors of society, particularly the Church. All she cared for was to win the election at all costs and cling to power for the entire duration of her six-year term as president. If, at all, she showed a modicum of liking for ChaCha, it was because of the possibility that ChaCha just might be the way for her to stay in power beyond the 2010 mandate given to her by the Cory constitution. But the euphoria that took grip of her regime following her controversial victory at the May polls in 2004 momentarily dispelled whatever thoughts she had of staying in power beyond 2010. It was only when her regime was plagued by a gargantuan political, economic and moral crisis coming in the wake of the plethora of national scandals – particularly the Garcillano tapes election fraud expose – that threatened to cut short her presidency that as a matter of survival, she had to fall back on the Ramos-De Venecia prescription for ChaCha. It was also in the process of reviving the ChaCha issue that her thoughts on staying in power beyond 2010 became a serious obsession for her.