The Philippine Star 07/26/2005

SONA jeered

The emphasis on Charter change in President Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) was a form of "political payback," House Minority Leader Francis Escudero said yesterday.

The payback, Escudero said, was to former President Fidel Ramos and Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., the President’s staunch allies who had "saved" her from mounting calls to resign.

"She did not address the basic issues confronting our nation, issues involving cheating, lying and stealing by some people in government and by a privileged few," Escudero said.

Escudero was referring to the issues raised by opposition congressmen, joined by several congressmen from the Liberal Party and some party-list groups, in filing an amended impeachment complaint against the President yesterday.

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, one of those who endorsed the amended petition, said Mrs. Arroyo "totally ignored the grave moral issues against her."

"She did not address the ‘Hello, Garci’ tape and jueteng issues. She has lost touch with reality and is in a denial stage," he said.

The opposition alleges that Mrs. Arroyo tried to rig a million-vote victory in last year’s presidential poll and offered as proof an audiotape of a wiretapped conversation in which the President was purportedly heard talking to a senior election official, widely believed to be then Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

She is also fending off claims that her husband, eldest son and brother-in-law received payoffs from operators of the illegal numbers game jueteng.

Golez described Mrs. Arroyo as the "most divisive president in recent history," having divided "former presidents, her own Cabinet, religious organizations, political parties, businessmen and even her family."

Opposition senators branded the President’s speech as a rehash and a futile attempt to buy her more time in office.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said it is too late for Mrs. Arroyo to start talking about Charter change at a time when she has already lost the trust of the people.

Pimentel, who claimed he did not watch the SONA, said the President could not blame the system for the problems of her administration. He added that as chief enforcer of the law, Mrs. Arroyo should have applied the law on jueteng lords and those who participated in electoral fraud, of which she is accused by the opposition.

Sen. Sergio Osmeña III said it was highly unlikely that the Senate would debate Charter change at this time and that an overwhelming majority would reject Mrs. Arroyo’s proposal to amend the Constitution by convening Congress into a constituent assembly.

He said the President’s speech was purely for public relations purposes and that a "palakpak brigade" of local government officials were there to project support for her.

"In order to get that type of support, she had to say what the palakpak brigade wanted to hear, which was Charter change. She won’t fool the people," Osmeña said.

He pointed out that local government officials were naturally supportive of Charter change, particularly the idea of removing limits on the number of terms an elected official could serve consecutively.

Osmeña said recent surveys showed that the majority of Filipinos want Mrs. Arroyo to resign, so no amount of support from local government officials could save her.

Pimentel said Mrs. Arroyo would suffer the fate that befell late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who tried to create a facade of support from local government officials in order to cover up the public’s dissatisfaction with his administration.

"She is beyond redemption," Pimentel said.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Mrs. Arroyo opened a new door for divisiveness among Filipinos by pushing for Charter change, while Sen. Ma. Ana Consuelo Madrigal said the President’s move was a "devious ploy to divert our attention from corruption in general and jueteng and impeachment in particular."

"Let this be a wake-up call for patriotic Filipinos to push for genuine reforms and reject the politics of personal gain," Madrigal said.

Administration Sen. Joker Arroyo and nine opposition senators — Pimentel, Lacson, Osmeña, Madrigal, Senators Edgardo Angara, Alfredo Lim, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Loi Ejercito and her son Jinggoy Estrada — boycotted the SONA.

Arroyo said past SONAs were largely "fairy tales," with promises that were never fulfilled. Estrada said he and his mother boycotted the event because they don’t believe Mrs. Arroyo is the duly elected president.

United Opposition president and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, who watched the SONA on television, observed that the applause seemed coordinated.

"She and her cohorts controlled (the event) very well. Every sentence nagpapalakpakan (was accompanied by applause). But in truth, everyone could see that (her) smile seemed fake or pasted on her face," Binay’s spokesman, Lito Anzures, said.

Anzures said Mrs. Arroyo’s expression of support for Charter change were "her terms of surrender," disguised as fighting words. He added that her statements on Charter change seemed to suggest that she was in a state of panic.

Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino’s spokesman for Metro Manila, called on the President to explain how she planned to unify a country divided by her continued stay in office before she could propose a new system of government.

Conveners of the group Unity for Truth and Justice, which seeks to gather support for a caretaker council to replace Mrs. Arroyo, warned her against continuing to fan the "us-against-Metro Manila" sentiment among local governors and mayors, "some of whom have openly called for virtual secession to form their own separate ‘republics’ should ‘imperial Manila’ succeed in ousting" her.

The group claimed Mrs. Arroyo’s "reckless behavior" shows she was concerned only with political survival and that "this democracy will become increasingly imperiled the longer she stays" in office.

Activist priest Fr. Robert Reyes said Mrs. Arroyo’s push for Charter change could prompt the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines to change its stand on calls for her resignation. The CBCP earlier said it would not support such calls.

"The Church was against any move to change the Charter, especially those by former President (Joseph) Estrada. This might just be the element to force the Church to change its position," he said.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, however, said he does not believe the Church will change its stand, but cautioned that a constituent assembly might not be acceptable to many Filipinos because it is "politically suspicious."

"A constitutional convention may be expensive but it gives the assurance that the delegates of the convention are non-partisan," he said.

Reyes said the shortness of Mrs. Arroyo’s speech "betrays the fact that it was only geared for Charter change and that there is a dark force behind it."

Meanwhile, Amira Lidasan, who chairs the Muslim group Suara Bangsamoro, said the President’s push for Charter change is to her benefit because it would prolong her administration. — Jess Diaz, Marvin Sy, Christina Mendez, Michael Punongbayan, Jerry Botial, Mike Frialde, Roel Pareño