MANILA, Philippines -- Why target the House of Representatives when she could head a “revolutionary” government?
A key ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo proposed on Sunday that she be part of a military-backed transition government that would reform the electoral system and amend the Constitution—all before the 2010 elections.
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said the “revolutionary” government could be patterned after the one established by former President Corazon Aquino as soon as see assumed the presidency following the 1986 People Power revolt.
“I’m proposing that we examine our experience during the Cory revolution,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).
“GMA [Arroyo’s initials] should be part of the revolutionary government that should also include the leadership of the two houses of Congress, the judiciary, and the Church.”
Gonzales, who also heads the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP), said discussing his proposed revolutionary government was better than speculating on whether Arroyo would seek a House seat or whether her allies would succeed in fiddling with the Charter.
He said he has been in touch with some leaders of both the Catholic and Protestant churches in an effort to sell his proposal.
But he said he had no intention of personally tackling the matter with Arroyo for fear of creating the impression that the proposal “was coming from Malacañang.”
Arroyo, who is in Brazil for a state visit, has been mum about her political plans after her term expires in 2010.
But she has made it clear that she was looking forward to the 2010 elections even if her congressional allies were seeking to amend the 1987 Constitution through a constituent assembly.
Gonzales said his proposed revolutionary government was not intended to postpone the elections either.
“Hopefully, we can achieve two fundamental things at least with it, that is to have credible elections and a new Charter before 2010,” he said.
Gonzales said both objectives could be met even with about 11 months to go before the synchronized national and local elections in May 2010.
He noted that it took Aquino only roughly nine months to establish a “freedom” Constitution, a constitutional commission that produced the 1987 Charter, reorganize the bureaucracy and local governments, and create the present Commission on Elections.
“If she was able to do all these in nine months or less, why can’t we?” he said.
Reminded that Aquino’s efforts came amid the context of a popular revolt, he said the current situation— that of a functioning bureaucracy —should produce no impediment.
“Leaders of the three main branches of government should get together and look at the situation of the country and discuss the possibility of having a transition government,” he said.
