Here and There

JDV’s leadership Outreach

By Gerry Garcia

WE’VE always been with former fellow-media man, now House Speaker Joe de Venecia, in his advocacy of constitution amendment achieved via Constituent Assembly of Congress because we personally believe in the utmost urgency prompting these attempts at reforming.

We’re convinced that our present bicameral presidential system, having been a perennial disappointing failure, needs a shift to something better — a parliamentary unicameral system, the kind of government that our ASEAN neighbors had wisely adopted to achieve their present industrial development. Also we find there’s need to rid

From page 4 the Constitution speaks of restrictive provisions which our prospective foreign investors find daunting or discouraging.

Lifting these restrictions from the Charter would draw more foreign investments to our Republic in the same way it has done for China today, an economic powerhouse, or even Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand, all of whom attained rapid development faster than intended.

That’s why JdV says Charter reform or cha-cha (as some Oppositionists would derisively call it) is the country’s last remaining hope to turn around the economy and transform Pinoyland from a Third-World to a second-world country in the next few years.

* * *

Aside from focusing on purely local matters, kabaleyan JdV’s attention is further drawn by international political issues. He, for instance, want Christians and Muslims of the world to unite thru inter-faith dialogue. He wants Asian parliaments to unite into a single assembly similar to that of the European Union.

Best of all, JDV wants debtor countries and international banks to forget about collecting half of the $2.3 trillion debts owed by middle and low-income countries and instead invest the money as equity in the United Nation- inspired Millenium Develoment Projects, like reducing poverty by half, mass housing, combating diseases and protecting the environment, promoting health and gender care.

* * *

Speaker JDV’s leadership outreach, many think, may be traced to his being born here in 1936 (when this writer was grade six student at the Dagupan Institute, UPang’s fore-runner) on December 26, the day after Jesus Christ was born!

(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/here-and-there/)