Yesterday, I saw the movie JFK at cable, and I was fascinated by the story. And the summation of the Kevin Costner character, Jim Morrison, gripped me to Google for the script and grab these quotes:

What kind of “national security” do we have when we have been robbed of our leaders? Who determines our “national security”? What “national security” permits the removal of fundamental power from the hands of the American people and validates the ascendancy of invisible government in the United States? That kind of “national security,” gentlemen of the jury, is when it smells like it, feels like it, and looks like it, you call it what it is – it’s Fascism!

Someday somewhere, someone might find out the damned Truth. Or we might just build ourselves a new Government like the Declaration of Independence says we should do when the old one ain’t working – maybe a little farther out West.

Because they care, because they want to know the truth – because they want their country back, because it belongs to us the people as long as the people got the guts to fight for what they believe in! The truth is the most important value we have because if the truth does not endure, if the Government murders truth, if you cannot respect the hearts of these people, then this is no longer the country in which we were born in and this is not the country I want to die in…

I couldn’t have said it any better.

Anyway, the movie was criticized as fabrication here.

Most analysts and bloggers now think that the current issues on people’s initiative and Charter change are just diversions. To divert what?

Based on the timeline given by Jose de Venecia, the Parliament should be in place by July this year. So what? By that month, the one-year ban on Gloria Arroyo impeachment ends, so her opponents can file another impeachment case.

DJB calls the people’s initiative as a desperate move on JDV’s part, since 50 congressmen had already signed a resolution saying that a Constituent Assembly can only be called by the Senate and the House separately, dashing the hopes of JDV for a ConAss. Atty-at-Work and Hillblogger both agree on DJB’s assertion. Atty-at-Work also believes that the Supreme Court will not overturn Defensor-Santiago v. Comelec.

MLQ3 has a different opinion, saying that the Chacha plan is almost perfect and achievable.

I tend to agree with MLQ3. Fifty signatures are not etched in stone; knowing our congressmen, their minds can change anytime, depending on the method of persuasion used. And the SC is an unknown quantity. With too many constitutional issues at its hands (EO464, 1017, CPR), many wonder why is it taking them so long to decide on these issues. The decisions on these cases can be a good gauge on how it would decide if ever a petition to overturn Defensor-Santiago v. Comelec is filed.

I guess it is indeed a diversion, a diversion that is a win-win for Gloria Arroyo. I think Gloria Arroyo would go for it, since it would bury the impending impeachment, what with the almost-amnesiac Filipinos forgetting every thing. So I agree with Hillblogger: let us refocus the issues to what needs to be addressed.

In an interview with ABS-CBN’s DZMM, Solicitor General Eduardo Nachura said that the Supreme Court should decide on the legality of the use of the people’s initiative to amend the Constitution. He said that while there is an enabling law, which is Republic Act 6735, it was not enough, according to Defensor-Santiago v. Comelec, in a 7-7 deadlock.

Anti-Chacha advocates harp on this decision, saying that any initiative to amend the Charter is illegal. Nachura and Philippine Constitution Association member Froilan Bacungan believes otherwise. Since the issue was decided in a deadlock, it is entirely possible that the SC may change its mind. And, as DJB pointed out, SC Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban dissented in that case, which means in his opinion, RA 6735 provides for initiative as a means to amend the Charter.

The Chacha game plan is now clear to me. If constituent assembly fails, use the people’s initiative. And with a Supreme Court that is perceived to be under Gloria Arroyo’s influence, the initiative will be legalized, just like how the SC had legalized the barangay assembly’s ratification of the 1973 Constitution during the time of Marcos. I would not be surprised if that happens.

Well, not really. Not yet. I have reserved a Blog Carnival entry for this. Now, all we have to do is to look for participants.

Spread the word.

Let the great debate on Charter Change begin.

I call on bloggers to discuss in their blogs topics regarding changes in the 1986 Constitution. It should be a concerted effort, with those who would participate post their ideas on a certain topic. Here are some suggestions:

1. There should be someone acting as a moderator of sorts. Actually his only role is to define the topic for discussion, what day for the posts to be published, etc. He is also the central point wherein he will posts the links to the posts done by participants. He should also be allowed to accept participants and select from them.
2. Only one topic should be discussed for a week. This is to give bloggers ample time to think thoroughly about the topic at hand, and for readers and other bloggers to comment on the post.
3. Participants are enjoined to post on the same day, and in the same time, if possible. This is to prevent participants from reading other’s posts before posting their own.
4. The comments section of the participants’ blogs will serve as the debate mechanism. Readers/other participants may post their reactions/questions, and the participant will answer the queries and post rebuttals. Or within the week, a participant may post a rebuttal on another participant’s post.

I suggest MLQ3 to be the moderator and participant. All blawggers are enjoined to participate (San Juan Gossip Mills, Punzi’s Corner, Vincula, Atty-at-Work, Bystander, Unlawyer, La Vida Lawyer, and other blawggers out there).

I also request the following bloggers to join in this dream debate: Rizalist, Philippine Politics 04; also journalist-bloggers, and those who are interested to join.

Since the proponents of Charter Change would rather gather signatures than engage the people in a lively debate/discussion on this matter, let us bloggers begin the Great Debate, and show the world why Charter Change should push/not push through.

Any takers?

Atty-at-Work explains that a people’s initiative cannot amend the Constitution because there is no requisite law, and calls the signature campaign a legal zombie.

And here’s what’s most striking:

Unless Congress hurries to enact the Constitutionally-required enabling law for initiatives to amend the Constitution or does a Marcos-style barangay-level “referendum”, the signature campaign is a legal zombie; it serves no legal purpose.

Strike the enabling law out, the Senate will not tolerate such rush. The second one is scary, since the barangay-level “referendum” was legalized by the Supreme Court back then. What would keep the Arroyo administration from doing this stunt (the SC decisions are considered legal precedents), and what would keep the current Supreme Court from upholding that stunt?

The SC decisions on EO 464 and Proclamation 1017 will tell us.

I move that we retain Sec. Raul Gonzales in the Cabinet for sheer inanity.

Anyway, a new law has been established, care of Mr. Secretary Gonzales. Last year, I blogged about the Defensor Postulate, wherein

x = ~x

Back then, the Hello Garci controversy was raging, and desperate in defending her master, Mike Defensor had said that it was her voice in the tapes, but she was not the one talking. Hence, the new postulate.

Now, we have another law, this time from another defender, Raul Gonzales. It goes like this:

Critic of Gloria Arroyo = Destabilizer

This law was established in this Inquirer article. Atty-at-Work tells us why Gonzales is wrong.