I hate it when I miss the primetime news. I hate it even more when I don't get to read the paper. But what I hate the most is the feeling of being uninformed. Like, for instance, when I picked up the newspaper today, I espied the right flag and found myself in a state of slight shock. I did not know that the Asian Games in Doha had begun already!
For a number of reasons (typhoon, no TV in my sister's dorm, no newsstand within an earshot, etc.), I had not read a page of the Inquirer for a couple of days already. During the weekend, we snuck into her friend's room in the floor upstairs just to check out what was on the news but the TV reception was so bad I thought I was being whirled in one of thise crazy teacup rides in amusement parks.
The Inquirer headline bannered the casualties of typhoon Reming, along with personal stories of those who survived its aftermath. The picture which enveloped much of the front page got my attention.
It was not long ago that Milenyo howling winds and battering rain ravaged through Legazpi, transforming it into a barren wasteland of silent weeping. It does not help that P. Joel, the pastor who helped me and my sister find a small group where we could grow, now lives in Legazpi along with Ate Em (who is on the family way) and their son. It was not long ago that they had spoken of rebuilding from the rubble. Now, just a few months later, they were back to square one.
Before I could completely absorb all the emotions that picture on the front page, my eyes almost instinctively drifted to the the news story just below the picture: "Cha-cha train starts chugging in House." All of a sudden, I just felt really angry. One of the strongest typhoons to wreak havoc in the country had just claimed 1000 lives (as of last count), destroyed homes and property, displaced families but it was apparently not tough enough to derail the Cha-cha MRT. It was the real thing, the real scenario getting shoved into my face. My mind was drowning in a curious mix of depression, despair and fury. There was no illustration better than this - the disparity between what the Filipino people NEED and what those elected into office WANT.
If it is not obvious just yet, I am not one of those gunning for Charter Change. When I was fourteen years old and President Ramos was advocating amending the Charter, I devoted pages of a journal I kept for my Asian history class to airing my distrust and opposition to Cha-cha. Almost ten years later, Cha-cha is still the dance to sway to. I believe that there is a need to amend the Charter but timing is of the essence. A teacher of mine during the first semester said it so eloquently: "We now have the chance to amend the Constitution properly. Why not do it the right way?" It was an obvious reaction to the now-junked people's initiative attempt.
Congress claims they have the required 3/4 vote as stipulated in Sec. 1, Art. 17, perhaps one of the most contested provisions in the Constitution. 3/4 vote of what? Congress, both the Lower House and the Senate, voting as one body? Or 3/4 vote of all the members voting separately? De Venecia claims it's the former, a number obviously easier to muster than shaping his eyebrows. The opposition argue it's the latter, taking into account the bicameral nature of the legislature. The more I think about it, the more I realize the lack of common sense among the members of Congress. If a regular bill needs to be deliberated upon separately by the Lower House and the Senate, shouldn't there be greater rigor in tackling an issue as crucial as amending what every 12-year old Filipino student recognizes as the fundamental law of the land?
Now is not the right time. Now is not the proper time. Amending the Charter is not what the Filipino people NEED right now. What they need right now is food on their table, clothes on their back, a roof over their heads and a government which serves their best interest with passion and dedication. As the Preamble put it "a government to serve OUR ideals and aspirations," not a government out to serve someone else's power hankering.
For a number of reasons (typhoon, no TV in my sister's dorm, no newsstand within an earshot, etc.), I had not read a page of the Inquirer for a couple of days already. During the weekend, we snuck into her friend's room in the floor upstairs just to check out what was on the news but the TV reception was so bad I thought I was being whirled in one of thise crazy teacup rides in amusement parks.
The Inquirer headline bannered the casualties of typhoon Reming, along with personal stories of those who survived its aftermath. The picture which enveloped much of the front page got my attention.
Before I could completely absorb all the emotions that picture on the front page, my eyes almost instinctively drifted to the the news story just below the picture: "Cha-cha train starts chugging in House." All of a sudden, I just felt really angry. One of the strongest typhoons to wreak havoc in the country had just claimed 1000 lives (as of last count), destroyed homes and property, displaced families but it was apparently not tough enough to derail the Cha-cha MRT. It was the real thing, the real scenario getting shoved into my face. My mind was drowning in a curious mix of depression, despair and fury. There was no illustration better than this - the disparity between what the Filipino people NEED and what those elected into office WANT.
If it is not obvious just yet, I am not one of those gunning for Charter Change. When I was fourteen years old and President Ramos was advocating amending the Charter, I devoted pages of a journal I kept for my Asian history class to airing my distrust and opposition to Cha-cha. Almost ten years later, Cha-cha is still the dance to sway to. I believe that there is a need to amend the Charter but timing is of the essence. A teacher of mine during the first semester said it so eloquently: "We now have the chance to amend the Constitution properly. Why not do it the right way?" It was an obvious reaction to the now-junked people's initiative attempt.
Congress claims they have the required 3/4 vote as stipulated in Sec. 1, Art. 17, perhaps one of the most contested provisions in the Constitution. 3/4 vote of what? Congress, both the Lower House and the Senate, voting as one body? Or 3/4 vote of all the members voting separately? De Venecia claims it's the former, a number obviously easier to muster than shaping his eyebrows. The opposition argue it's the latter, taking into account the bicameral nature of the legislature. The more I think about it, the more I realize the lack of common sense among the members of Congress. If a regular bill needs to be deliberated upon separately by the Lower House and the Senate, shouldn't there be greater rigor in tackling an issue as crucial as amending what every 12-year old Filipino student recognizes as the fundamental law of the land?
Now is not the right time. Now is not the proper time. Amending the Charter is not what the Filipino people NEED right now. What they need right now is food on their table, clothes on their back, a roof over their heads and a government which serves their best interest with passion and dedication. As the Preamble put it "a government to serve OUR ideals and aspirations," not a government out to serve someone else's power hankering.
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