I LOOK to the Inquirer and its many respectable columnists to inform and enlighten me about the issues that affect me as a citizen of this country. I look to the Inquirer because its columnists, like Randy David, Michael Tan, Manuel Quezon III, Neal Cruz, cite empirical facts to support their arguments and positions; or, like retired Justice Isagani A. Cruz (law), Fr. Joaquin Bernas (Constitution), Solita Collas-Monsod (economics), Ambeth R. Ocampo (history), are in the best position to comment on any subject matter; or, like Conrado de Quiros, write with such passion. And I look to the Inquirer because its columnists are able to explain to me, in a language that I understand, the seemingly complex political issues bedeviling the country.
Therefore, I looked to the Inquirer when the issue of Charter change and its subsequent junking by the Supreme Court came up. I was disappointed with Belinda Olivares-Cunanan.
I have waited for her to explain why she keeps on saying that shifting to a parliamentary system will "free us" from poverty or whatever it is that we need to free ourselves from. To this day, I have not read a compelling argument from her to convince me that changing the Constitution can do this. All I've read are her glorious claims and vague explanations. The question that I wanted answered is simple: How?
Any system of government is good as long as the people running it are themselves good. For Charter change advocates to propose that the very same venal congressmen will dominate the new system is not a very good prospect. The proposal doused whatever inclination I had toward parliamentarism. It is exactly from these "trapo" [traditional politicians] that we need freeing from, not the presidential system.
At one point, Cunanan criticized Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez for asking the question: "Will you entrust the fate of our country, the Filipino people, in the hands of 6.3 million voters whom you and I do not know?" Cunanan opined: "Gutierrez obviously did not believe that the broad masses of the Filipino people were capable of sound judgment." (Inquirer, 09/28/06)
Does Cunanan honestly think that the broad masses of the Filipino people do not see beyond the lies of the Charter change advocates? Does she honestly believe that the broad masses of the Filipino people do not see the current "people's" initiative for what it truly is: an initiative of politicians, who want to cling to power at all cost, who do not speak on behalf of their constituents? Cunanan's arguments make me think that she "obviously (does) not believe that the broad masses of the Filipino people are capable of sound judgment."
Furthermore, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why Cunanan has only praises for this current administration. For example, I have not read anything from her about the "calibrated preemptive response or about the rampant killings of leftists and journalists.
VON B. GUINTU, Baliti, San Fernando, Pampanga (via e-mail)
