Thye MOA-AD disaster

THE Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was a disaster. It was done for a wrong motive--at least that’s how public perception goes--at a wrong time, and by wrong protagonists. Whoever crafted and advanced this ironic accord must either be too intelligent that the moves were too far advanced to be tactically imperceptible or too nincompoop to miss the elementary lessons of history.

The perception parlayed by both columnists and bystanders was that this chronically cracked administration was doing a “wag-the-dog” to prop up its penchant for changing the charter. The “cat is finally out of the bag” went some news and blogs when the charter change issue came looming consequently in the horizons. The logic seems to be this: amidst the trouble in Mindanao, charter change maybe the only way out. Plausible as it may seem, but this move is too long a shot. Because, in the first place, the Commander-in-Chief (who is always referred to by bloggers as the Malacañang occupant or tenant, obviously because of unsettled wholesale discrepancies) will never ever get away with changing the charter. And everybody, including the barber at the corner, knows it.

The current credibility crisis is too heavy to lift a heavier agenda as amending the constitution. All its promotional ads seem to be disproving the subliminal principle of advertising such as when one reads, “Ramdam ang kaunlaran” and gets nauseated.

The Philippines maybe the only country in the world and in political history where every president always becomes obsessed with changing the very basic law of the land. (e.g. the CHA-CHA of Ramos, the CONCORD of Estrada). If that is not any indication of political wizardry, then every Filipino should worry about a political culture that has gone awry. Charter Change has been a regular feature in every political season, habitually revered by the political majority more than the exigency to attend to basic services. In Philippine history, changing the constitution only happened in extreme situations: first, in 1973 during the extreme power of Marcos, second in 1987 during the extreme euphoria of the yellow politics of Aquino. History tells that changing the Charter does not happen simply because of the deception surrounding signature campaigns or the maneuverings of a Speaker of the House.

Other reasons for the thud of the MOA-AD were: the lack of popular consultation, the fear that the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity may simply be just another name for an Islamic State, the agenda of the Americans who wish to put up a military base in Mindanao, the untrustworthiness of a world-renowned corrupt government, among many others.

But Nothing comes as a surprise anymore. With disaster as the acquired trademark, it's just a matter of getting used to this administration as one would with his lot, but a cruel twist of fate.