Here and There
Cha-cha’s best advocates
By Gerry Garcia
FELLOW-columnist Jun Velasco and this writer have always been one with the millions of OFWs from this bamboo Republic who have opted to go abroad for greener pastures because things here are as disquieting as they are disappointing. All of us share a common feeling: that we’re not getting the break we want from a chaotic and uncaring government.
We simply want our public officials, our executive and legislative leaders, to stop cutting each others’ throats only to attain selfish personal ends . . . instead of giving us, the public, what we want — public, not pocket, service.
Our OFWs abroad have so far been sending home multi-billion remittances, enough to keep the country’s economy from collapsing and one can be sure the scores of OFWs abroad, including their families and friends here can be better and more convincing advocates of charter reforms seeking a shift to a unitary parliament from a bicameral presidential system… than the rather controversial 6.3 million signatures of petitioners for a people’s initiative.
Despite the SC’s junking of the People’s initiative by a close vote of 8 to 7, our adamant JDV, refusing to say “uncle” may have something else up his sleeve and, in the words of the late EG’s former friend, Phil Star publisher Max Soliven, “will soon be bouncing back with Plan B”.
We agree with Max that “JDV has by charm, cajoling, deal-making and adroit manuevering, plus resilience of approach, has often managed to realign it into ‘the art of the impossible'”.
We don’t agree, though, that JDV has “run out of time”, that there is no quick-fix for what ails us. There is no magic leap from Presidential to Parliament within the calendar set by Malacañang and Speaker Joe themselves.
Well just wait and see.
(For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/here-and-there/)
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