Good Morning Judge: No to Cha-Cha Coalition

THIS writer is heartened by television and print media reports that a “No to Cha Cha Coalition” has been recently launched at the University of the Philippines College of Law in Diliman, Quezon City. Led by no less than l986 Constitutional Commission members Christian Monsod and former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr., the coalition “defended the fundamental law they helped draft.” Reportedly, the coalition outlined the dangers of the administration’s plan to amend the Constitution primarily to change the current unitary government to a federal system. In a speech, the former Chief Justice was quoted to have said that “This Charter change is a lethal experiment, a plunge to death, a leap to hell. For those who took oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution to now lure people into an unproved federal system is tyranny.” Further reports said that the coalition which consists mostly of members of the multisectoral Movement against Tyranny described the proposed amendments at the House of Representatives as “self-serving and dangerous.” This writer agrees with the observation of the coalition that “the proposed amendment would pave the way for another dictatorship, since some of the changes were intended “to delete or water down the check-and-balance system among the branches of government.” Davide further observed that the “current charter had been the country’s only one to have ‘unprecedented permanence’ having remained unamended for 31 years despite two previous attempts at changing it.” On the part of former Constitutional Commission member Christian Monsod, he pointed out that “if the ruling party’s reason for proposing federalism was to address the imbalance of resource distributions from central to regional governments, xxx “the perceived problem can be fixed without having to resort to Charter change as it can be “addressed xxx by strictly implementing or amending the Local Government Code.” Indeed, why go to the rigors of Charter change? This coming Saturday, February 17, the 28th Bicol Regional Assembly of the Knights of Rizal will be held at Villa Caceres Hotel’s Magdalena Hall. Delegates from the six provinces and five cities in the Bicol Region are expected to attend the five-day convention. It is expected that national officers of the Knights of Rizal from Metro Manila will be in attendance. The national chairman of the Knights of Rizal is no less than former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno. TRIVIA: Congratulations to the Officers and Members of the Knights of Columbus, Nueva Caceres Council 7995, for its successful celebration of its 37th Founding Anniversary and Pre-Valentine party last Saturday. Rev. Fr. Godofredo J. Rueda is the Chaplain of the Council. The USI high school batch ‘55 is scheduled to meet this coming Saturday February 17 for a luncheon-fellowship in honor of the birthday celebrants Lily Aklan, Cecil Pardo and Olivia Bahillo for the month of February, Congratulations! QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: “THE GREATER DANGER FOR MOST OF US LIES NOT IN SETTING OUR AIM TOO HIGH AND FALLING SHORT, BUT IN SETTING OUR AIM TOO LOW AND ACHIEVING OUR MARK.” MICHAELANGELO FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE: “THERE IS AN APPOINTED TIME FOR EVERYTHING, A TIME FOR EVERY AFFAIR UNDER THE HEAVENS.” ECCLESIASTES 3:1