Charter Change and the Trojan Horse

One of the fishy aspects of the issue of the Memorandum of Agreement between the government and MILF is that at first look, its provisions are directly conflicting with the Constitution. As Juan Mercado states in his column, "President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo may be what her rabid critics insist. But the lady is not dumb. She knew the draft proposing the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) to be fatally flawed."

Indeed, she may be said to have many flaws, but being dumb is not one of them. In fact, the MOA shows that she is cunning.

It seems that the fear of MILF wreaking havoc in Mindanao if the MOA is junked will put pressure on the people to approve the provisions of the MOA, and consequently pave the way for the revision of the Constitution. And as reported by the Inquirer, A GMA spokesperson even proclaimed that "It’s all systems go for Charter change." It is interesting to note, however, that GMA neglected to talk about this very important point in her recent SONA. A change in the Constitution deserves even a little air time, right?

It's just sad to see that the MILF is being used as a pawn in the dance that is Cha-Cha. As Dean Raul Pangalangan said in his column, "The pact requires constitutional change (deliberately, I venture) and we are rightly uneasy that the genuine and historic grievances of Muslim Filipinos are being used for the cheap workaday politics of greed and ambition."

Or as succinctly put by Mercado, "This is a 'Trojan Horse' for [GMA's] drive to cling to power."


Photo: Darcy McCarty, Creative Commons, Flickr