1. Two campaigns have begun. The first, for amendments to be approved in a referendum (immediately after the speech, the drum-beating began); the second, the 2007 elections (Neil Cruz on Viewpoint surprised me when he asserted it’s likely that more than 79 opposition members of the House will be elected).
2. It was a division of the spoils.
3. It was the Mother of All Pork Barrel Speeches.
4. It is, however, proof of something we don’t pause often enough to recognize. Regardless f what the President does, or doesn’t do, things move on their own. Many of the plans and projects announced aren’t the fruits of the President’s hard work, or leadership, it’s the result of continuous meetings between national and local officials, elected representatives and members of the bureaucracy. Some of these projects began when the administration was new; others date back to previous administrations; some were identified and mapped out long ago, but it is only now that they have been given the green light.
5. Therefore, much of what was announced would have happened, regardless of who is President; but there are definitely many officials happy that they have been given a curtain call, and that regardless of her motives, the importance of those plans has been recognized.
6. We should rename the Batasan Pambansa the Kroll Opera House. Not even Ferdinand Marcos indulged in such public displays of legislative sycophancy. Or double-speak. As Torn & Frayed points out, she condemnded killings then praised to the skies the number one suspect.

With looped its 00.2. My dream job is to be self unemployed….

While I personally favor a unicameral system, your thoughts on a regional composition for the Senate (plus the inclusion of some critical sectors of our society) deserve consideration.

Although some may argue that there are enough measures in the local government code to ensure autonomy of the regions from the seat of government, it is obvious that not enough is being done.

The seat of government has to devolve much more power and funds. That could be painful for some vested interests who have properties and businesses near the seat of government which are prospering because most of the country’s resources are being lavished at the center of power. That attitude of entitlement belongs to another era and it should be banished. That is a colonial legacy handed down from the Spanish period. Even in Spain itself, the idea of a strong centralized government has undergone much change. Modern Spain is now composed of progressive and vibrant regions, quite independent from Madrid.

Sacrifices have to be made and mindsets have to be transformed. We all have to realize that we can’t have our cake and eat it too. Compromises cannot be avoided. The final product may not be to everybody’s liking, but the majority will go along if they see that benefits are spread out.

Now I think that whether parliamentary or presidential, a bicameral system is healthier: I’d go as far as reexamining the Senate and either electing senators by region, or reserving one seat for Muslims, another for tribal minorities, and a third for overseas Filipinos (OFW representation in the House would be too diluted). A unicameral parliament if done the way the Palace wants it, will erode confidence in the state further, and may hold off trouble for a while, but intensify the reckoning later on.

I also think certain punitive (or preventive) amendments would boost confidence across all classes: say a prohibition on anyone related to anyone who has served in elected office for the past century holding office for the next twenty years; or simply a one term limit for any office holder, meaning you run for one office but can never run for any other office ever again. Desperate times? Desperate measures. But then it’s perhaps impractical but that’s how I view it: it would genuinely democratize our country if a professional could say, take a sabbatical for a term, serve, then go back to earning a proper living (or raise salaries: in today’s pesos, my grandfather earned approx. 12 million a year in salary as president; Magsaysay, almost 7 million per annum as President: in the Commonwealth, the lowest pay grade janitor earned the equivalent, in today’s pesos, of about 8,000 a month). See my column on this subject:

http://www.inq7.net/opi/2004/mar/15/opi_mlquezoncol-1.htm

Then again, Carl, I also believe that if the President honestly felt she did nothing wrong, she would have either submitted to impeachment, or simply called for a referendum on her rule, and pledged to accept the results.