I know, I know. Uber late na reaction ko sa issue na ito. Pero its better late than pregnant diba? I mean, its better late than absent...Ok, enough of the horse talk. Just want to share my dos sentimos regarding this issue.

Obviously the popular argument against Cha-Cha is Arroyo staying in power. But then again, that has been the SAME argument every time a president proposes cha-cha, like Ramos in the 90's. So it seems to me, it really doesn't matter who is the president in the office currently. When he/she proposes cha-cha, it will ALWAYS be opposed citing a power grab. The result of course is nothing changes in Philippine politics, in fact it only promotes the status quo which I know everyone abhors, citing rampant corruption and the like.

I actually don't blame us for that. The Filipinos don't want a repeat of what happened in the Marcos regime. But sometimes I wonder if we are not holding back the country because of.....fear.

Let's do a little mental exercise...for a minute, let's imagine there is no concern about the current president......mahirap pero let's try.....imagining...imagining....ok ay...

Now let's ask ourselves...is Cha-Cha good for the country? Here are some of the main reasons that's been given for why Cha-Cha is good for us.

• it will streamline government, instead of legislation going through 2 houses of congress it will only go through 1

• the different regions of the Philippines will have better representation in government, the country will be divided into several autonomous states (aka, federalism, like in U.S.) and each state can vote for their own senators instead of a national vote

• it will help with the muslim conflict, having a state that they are the majority in and be in charge in will promote peace in the country (hopefully)

• it will hamper corruption, having separate states in charge of its own welfare will promote good through competition, those states that are less corrupt will have more business going to them and people will likely migrate to them as well, and those states who are more corrupt will lose business

Sounds very good right? Okay, back to reality, given all these basic benefits (and I'm sure there are others), is it not worth the RISK of possibly having Gloria again in power in a few years? If majority of Filipinos really dislike Arroyo that much then why would we fear her coming back to power anyway and so what? Something every Filipino should REALLY consider, instead of just basing our sentiments on FEAR.

Our country has to move forward.

I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but sometimes I wonder if those in government who are opposing cha-cha do so just so the Philippines will stay the same...corruption included.

Wala lang...gusto ko lang magshare ng opinyon. Nakainom kasi ako ng kape ngayong umaga kaya kung ano-ano sinasabi ko. But remember looking at the other side of the coin is always an option.

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