Ten years ago...

I chanced upon this photo while researching for my Cha-cha Train Timeline. Apparently, this image was taken sometime in an anti-Charter Change rally in 1997. Then senator Gloria Arroyo (with the pseudo-Palin look minus the glasses) rallied alongside former President Corazon Aquino, Jaime Cardinal Sin, then vice-president Joseph Estrada, and then opposition senator Edgardo Angara (eventually Estrada's running mate for the 1998 elections).

That was more than 10 years ago. Obviously, the rally succeeded and the constitution was not changed. However, talks on charter change still remained the word of mouth since (Estrada preferred to call it CONCORD) and especially since Arroyo assumed Presidency in 2004. I remembered the strongest bet then for Prime Minister was JDV, a staunch Arroyo ally who was influential (and a president in his own right) as house speaker. He was even the standard-bearer of the Lakas party come 2010. But the tides went against him late last year because of his involvement (or lack thereof) in the overpriced NBN-ZTE broadband deal. And the rest is history.

With Juan Ponce Enrile ascending to Manny Villar's post as senate president, the call for constitutional change had again been brought to the forefront (now louder than ever -- Drilon and Villar were strongly against it). Enrile supported cha-cha but he seemed to have a more lax stand on the issue now. The sudden leadership must have rubbed on him. Obviously too, it was one of the things he, Lacson, and Madrigal agreed upon before he was put on the throne.

What bothers me though was these motions always resurface before the elections. Was it a move to extend leadership? or merely an initiative to change the current system? Come on, the constitution has been untouched since it was ratified in 1987 -- that's more than two decades ago. Times have changed, our laws are no longer pacing with the times. There are more and more issues (especially in terms of technology) that the former constitution cannot address.

I am for the ammendment but I'm not for the change in the government system. Why use a government system that has no track record in the country? Why use a parliamentary system that Filipinos only knew thereotically? Isn't that jumping from the pan to the fire? There are already local, national, and international issues that needed immediate attention. It would be suicidal to suddenly change the system at this crucial time. Why can't they just ride it out and when everything's steady, start the debate again?

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I remembered it was during the 1995 elections when my aunts and uncles supported Arroyo in her second bid for senator. I remembered seeing her campaign posters where she posed celebrity-like in a blue dress with head leaning on the right hand, dressed as a farmer, and whatever masa outfit her publicity manager can think of. These soon payed off as she topped the senatorial elections and her popularity earned her the vice-president spot in the Lakas party, eventually winning (by landslide) over Angara in 1998.

By the time I was in senior year, she was the incumbent president after the melodramatic People Power II and had been ruling since my laidback college days to these early years in journalism. I've read all her SONA speeches, avidly watched every scandal during her term, laughed at the booboos she said ('Oh my God'), did, and whatnots.

I can't help but imagine the sort of President Sarah Palin would have become if she became president. But would Palin experience the same humiliation? Cynical as it might sound, she'd probably experience far worst than what I can imagine for now.

Anyway, who would have thought that Arroyo, innocently dressed in yellow, then against charter change, now eagerly pushed for the same cause Ramos was fighting for 10 years back. I was against charter change for the same reason my high school teachers were against it. Looking back, I realized I didn't know anything about charter change. I just followed -- probably like the thousands of people who rallied behind these personalities. There were little thorough discussions on charter change during Ramos' time. If there were ones, it was limited to the consequences.

I was very young. When you're young you don't think that much, you let your emotions rule you. You move by instinct.

2008 is a different story. Arroyo's regime was also different from Ramos'. Some webblogs I've stumbled upon would say they'd rather support charter change under Ramos than Arroyo's. After all, what scandals have Ramos gotten himself into? None as blown-up as the fertilizer fund scam, Garci tapes, and the likes. He did had his scandals, but because those were not exposed, it was technically improper to label those with the dirty s.

Of course, by historical accounts, Aquino's term was no better. But she was still regarded with adulation because the catholic church was behind her. I am old enough to know that the separation of church and state existed only by paper in Philippine politics. When all else fails, maybe we should just bow our heads, pray, and let the highest power guide this country to paradise.

Yeah right.