House Speaker Jose De Venecia is surely busy these days. The self-styled statesman is sending out codes and symbols concerning the House of Representatives’ growing intent to railroad Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Charter Change by again dancing to the tune of a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass).
House Speaker Jose De Venecia is surely busy these days. The self-styled statesman is sending out codes and symbols concerning the House of Representatives’ growing intent to railroad Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Charter Change by again dancing to the tune of a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass).
While the nation’s attention is still with the government-backed “people’s initiative,” the Congress is maliciously pushing its Con-Ass gambit once again. The signs are already in place and our trapo (traditional politician) legislators are like cult minions who are receiving these codes religiously.
Just recently, the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) was convened where Mrs. Arroyo once again pitched her Cha-Cha bid. With the help of De Venecia, Sen. Richard Gordon, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and his House of Representative counterpart Cong. Constantino Jaraula held a dialogue to supposedly break the impasse regarding the initiative to change the Constitution. Defenders of Cha-Cha praised the said effort as a breakthrough for “constitutional change.”
Obviously, the remaining sessions of both houses which will be happening from May 15 to June 9 2006 will be an elite ritual. High priest De Venecia together with Cha-Cha’s new hangers-on in the mold of Senator Santiago will guarantee its accomplishment. This is the meaning of the De Venecia Code-the advancement of the Cha-Cha initiative in the legislative front. The illegitimate Arroyo regime is optimistically looking forward to this as a viable track in perpetuating its political lineage, survive until 2010 and possibly emerge as a powerful incumbent-dictator under a new constitutional order.
However, The Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) is sounding the alarm and is telling the people not to entrust our future with the likes of Jose De Venecia and his cohorts or with a spineless Congress who wants to tinker with our constitution to advance vested interests. Like the flawed initiative to change our charter which he is eagerly supporting, be it a Con-Ass or a pseudo people’s initiative, De Venecia, the most resolute D.I. (dance instructor) of GMA’s Cha-Cha has a solid reputation for being anti-people.
Lest we forget, during the Marcos regime, this is the same Jose De Venecia who obtained PhP5 billion worth of private debts from his now defunct Landoil Resources Corporation that was passed to unknowing taxpayers. Unmistakably, De Venecia consciously helped in perpetuating the deadly cycle of debt which we are currently burdened with.
In addition, this same Jose De Venecia was the prime defender of the institutionalization of pork barrel allocations in our national budget under the auspices of the Ramos regime. Pork barrel allocations were dramatically increased through different congressional insertions at the expense of much needed social services.
Moreover, this same Jose De Venecia was involved in the PEA-Amari swindle. Tagged as “the Mother of All Scams,” the government and the Filipino people were hoodwinked in a defective contract involving billions of pesos.
De Venecia’s fanatical support of Gloria’s Cha-Cha is quite logical. The reasons are plain and simple. For one, De Venecia is not new in this game. He actively supported the 1973 charter change initiative of Ferdinand Marcos which gave the late dictator unprecedented powers to rule in a despotic way. Second, he wants to fulfill his life-long ambition to become the country’s first prime minister under an elite-dominated parliamentary system that will only perpetuate the politics of patronage and elite domination.
Lastly, De Venecia symbolizes what kind of Congress we got right now-a Congress that is so insensitive to the needs of their constituents; and that has enthusiasm to push forward a defective initiative to change the constitution, but has no political vigor in giving even temporary economic relief to the poor.
The signs are really telling. One need not be a Robert Langdon to decipher the meaning of it all. The current initiative to change our charter by again opening the option of a Con-Ass is the latest in the crude maneuverings of this illegitimate government. However, the De Venecia Code is exposed for what it really is-this time again, charter change via the congressional front.
Gloria’s charter change must be opposed at all fronts. It will not benefit the Filipino poor. It will not raise the salaries of the impoverished working class. It will not bring down the prices of basic commodities. It will not provide the majority poor with adequate food, housing and health. It is a dance for the fake GMA regime to concretely escape from unresolved allegations of massive fraud last 2004 elections. It is a dance to liberalize our economy to foreign interests and complete the neo-liberal framework of an all-out privatization of public utilities like water and power. Finally, it is a dance to assure the local elites of their control under a new constitutional set-up.
With this, the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) is signaling the opening of massive and creative protest actions versus GMA’s Charter Change. We are calling all patriotic Filipinos to defeat Gloria’s Cha-Cha ploy at all fronts. With enough strength and determination, the Filipino people will surely defeat Gloria’s Cha-Cha and in the immediate ban another Con-Ass bid encrypted in the De Venecia’s Code.
Reference: Ana Maria R. Nemenzo