Meeting of the People’s Coalition for Revolutionary Government or Charter Change in Clark, Pampanga on Aug. 22, 2020. Photo frm the Facebook page of Bobby Brillante.
Persons behind the renewed movement for a revolutionary government have no love for country and its people. It is an unnecessary distraction in the midst of a health pandemic that the administration could not competently handle.
Pushing it is not only untimely but also bad for politics, for business, for the economy, and for the country as whole. The Philippines will be in a situation far worse than how it has been in the last few months because transitioning to a revolutionary government will only foment political unrest and economic dislocation.
According to a news report in the Inquirer, about 300 people met in person and online on Aug. 22 at Clark Freeport during which a three-page manifesto was issued.
The group that calls itself People’s National Coalition for Revolutionary Government and Charter Change came out with the manifesto that calls on Filipinos to “join (us) in declaring a revolutionary government and for Charter change, a presidential-federal-parliamentary system of government.”
The group wants President Duterte to “head the said revolutionary government under a revolutionary constitution to last until Dec. 31, 2021, after which elections shall be held under the newly amended constitution… in a federal form of government,” it said in a letter to Philippine National Police Director Gen. Archie Gamboa as narrated by PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Bernard Banac.
Gamboa had said he received an invitation sent through the messaging app Viber to join the Clark meeting which, he said, was originally set for Friday.The PNP, through Banac, had issued a statement that the organization will not support the call for a revolutionary government, saying that it undermines the Constitution.
As I write this piece, the only statement from Malacanang came from Spokesperson Harry Roque, saying the Duterte administration “is focused on addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.” So far, there was no categorical statement distancing itself from the efforts of his supporters to put up a revolutionary government.
The Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD-NECC) organized the event. This group, which urged Duterte to run for the presidency in the 2016 elections, was supposed to have “evolved into an aggrupation of civil society, non-government, political, patriotic organizations and freedom loving citizens all over the country.”
Leading the pack that met at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga was Bobby Brillante, who was identified as a national coordinator and deputy national spokesperson of the MRRD-NECC. I guess he was the same Bobby Brillante who once served as councilor and vice mayor of Makati City, and as director of the APO Production Unit, one of the government’s printing agencies.
If he was indeed the same person, then this renewed call for a shift to a revolutionary government must be dismissed outright as just a needless noise from somebody desperately seeking attention. Brillante needs to work hard in establishing his own credibility before he could push something worthwhile.
Having a revolutionary government would supposedly bring about “real change” that Duterte had promised when he was campaigning. Brillante was quoted to have said that it would accelerate government processes because the power is centered on the president. He said the group does not seek to extend Duterte’s stay in power beyond June 30, 2022, after which an interim revolutionary council will be established with a prime minister overseeing day-to-day affairs of government.
Bereft of any credibility, Brillante’s and his group’s proposal must be nipped in the bud. It won’t help but will, in fact, aggravate the already bad situation the country is in right now. It won’t cure any of the ills besetting the administration and the country.
It is time for all democracy-loving Filipinos to stand united against movements like transitioning to federalism through a revolutionary government.
The administration has inadequately eased the problems brought about by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. The least we need at this time, as the number of Covid cases continues to grow day by day, is an unnecessary distraction that is meant to serve the selfish political interests of a few.
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files. This column also appeared in the Manila Times.
