A last call for the elders of Pangasinan

THE People’s Initiative ostensibly for the amendment of the Constitution was finally launched last week amid charges and accusations of signature-buying and black propaganda between interest-political groups.

Interestingly, the prime-movers, Sigaw ng Bayan Movement claimed early success but could not explain how it could have launched the signature campaign in a nationwide government event while government was adamant that it had nothing to do with it.

And there were reports that barangay officials surreptitiously offered grocery items to entice their constituents to sign the petition, a charge that most denied while others sheepishly acknowledged with a sly grin on their faces.

But whether or not cash or grocery goods were offered, or whether it was the Department of Interior and Local Government that actually launched the People’s Initiative was really hardly the point.

The point is – did the signatories understand what they signed for?

Given the known complexity of the proposal – the shift from the presidential-bicameral system to a parliament-unicameral-one wonders how many of the supposed millions who quickly signed the petition understood the implications of their signatures.

Were they aware that, much less told, in affixing their signatures to support the People’s Initiative they are actually agreeing to give up their right to directly elect a president? That they agree to the abolition of the Senate?

How many were told that only the majority party has a say in electing the president and prime minister? How many were made to understand the difference between the president under the presidential system and that under the parliamentary system? What role does it play vis-a-vis the prime minister?

How many were told that one politician can actually be president or prime minister for life? Or that the members of parliament will no longer have fixed terms?

How many were advised that the check-and-balance principle in governance will be lost because a simple majority by members of parliament will determine who can and should be held accountable for graft and corruption?

Alas, it was simply another numbers’ game and exercise to measure politicians’ political clout in their districts.  For to be more precise, it was a race for signatures to validate support for the Arroyo government and its officials.

One can only shake one’s head in exasperation when prime-movers are heard promising a paradise under a parliament system, without need for a clear and intelligent debate on the issues.

Elder Pangasinenses who understand and can articulate the issues owe it to their children to explain the ramifications of a complete shift in the system of our government to their neighbors and friends, for after all, it’s their children who will stand to benefit or suffer from this folly called “People’s Initiative for Mrs. Gloria Arroyo.”

Act now before it’s too late.

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