It's a sad day as former president Fidel V. Ramos, died of COVID-19, at the age of 94. There's so much controversy about Ramos' legacy. Some say he was a trapo. Others called him "boy benta". Back then, remembered the demonization done by Ramos. The charter change was viewed as a "bad thing". An editorial back when I was in elementary had a caricature of Ramos and the shadow said, "MARTIAL LAW". The fear of another Marcos-style dictatorship under Ramos was widespread. Misinformation is so common. Sadly, history is treated as CHISMIS such as how people tend to use pasaway thought leaders as their sources. These can be people like Jover Laurio of Pignoy Ako Blog, Gerry Cacanindin, Illogical Kinko, Frank Baklaan IV, Agot Isidro, Cynthia Patay, Jim Paredes, Leah Navarro, Toady Casino, Neri Colmenares, etc. to get their sources.
I guess people really, REALLY could still remember how the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. changed the constitution overnight. Fear about the parliamentary form of government was most likely due to the LACK OF INFORMATION. However, the late Ninoy Aquino had revealed the VERY TRUTH that the Marcos Sr. Years weren't a real parliament. I had a good laugh at what Ninoy said about having a parliamentary WITHOUT a parliament. Ninoy even describes how Marcos Sr.'s constitutional reform was nothing more than a mockery. How can Marcos Sr.'s parliamentary be a parliamentary government if there was NO PARLIAMENT? How can we have a real parliamentary when Marcos Sr. said that he can dissolve the Parliament (like how Palpatine dissolved the Imperial Senate) but he can't be dissolved by it, and when Cesar Virata was personally HANDPICKED by the president. A parliamentary system has it that the president is symbolic while the prime minister is the head of government.
Talks against charter change (or better called CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM) happened. The talk that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's desire for charter change was also to make herself a dictator. There were a total of two anti-constitutional reform rallies. I guess the mistake was that both of them talked about it during the END of their terms. People frequently used Marcos Sr. as an excuse to resist constitutional reform. They even say that only the best and the brightest minds wrote the 1987 Constitution in the World. Hilarious Davide even goes as far as to call it "the best constitution in the world". However, the results said otherwise. Until now, the Philippines is still left behind in the ASEAN. Talks about constitutional reform were demonized AGAIN when the late Noynoy Aquino made it a habit to blame Gloria.
The big problem is that many Filipinos (or should I say TOO MANY FILIPINOS) were fighting against reforms that could've benefited them. These people blindly still follow the "thought leaders" they have such as Casino (who I believe is a CPP-NPA member in spite of his denial) or Jover who only uses a Facebook page to run Pignoy Ako Blog. These people felt they knew everything and opposed it too many times. Now, they're reaping the results of it. A parliamentary system would've already given Team Leni Loud the role of the opposition. Leni Loud Robredo could've headed the Shadow Government with her Shadow Cabinet. Leni Loud herself could've been able to criticize Bobong by holding him accountable and giving better alternatives. Leni Loud's shadow ministers could've already debated with Bobong's ministers. Instead, their opposition to shifting to the parliamentary form of government made them an UNRECOGNIZED OPPOSITION. The irony is that their opposition caused them to lose the chance to become the Opposition.
It's best not to let the fight die. Don't let Ramos' plan for a better Philippines die with him. That's why we need to CoRRECT the Constitution right now!
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