The season of love, faith, charity and hope is still in the air and here comes speculations that President Arroyo will declare martial law or proclaim national emergency just to keep herself in power beyond 2010 when her term of office will expire.

Those who are speculating on this either have been blinded by their hate of the President, for whatever reasons, rightly or wrongly, or are clearly ignorant of the provisions of Article VII, Section 18 of the severely-flawed and reactionary Cory Constitution of 1987.

The Cory Constitution is clearly a reactionary charter as result of the Marcos dictatorship so much so that the framers of the Constitution handpicked by Cory saw to it that the reign of the dictator will not be repeated.

That’s why when I read the remarks of former Speaker Jose de Venecia that President Arroyo will either proclaim martial law or declare a state of national emergency to extend her term, I wanted to laugh, but I could not. De Venecia, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, could not be that irresponsible since he must have read the 1987 Constitution at some point in his political life.

Or, my gulay, did he?

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Just for the education of those who are speculating that martial law or a declaration of national emergency can extend President Arroyo’s terms, I am reprinting the provisions on martial law (Article VII, Section 18) of the Cory Constitution, to wit:

“The President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent or suppress lawless violence, invasion of rebellion. In case of invasion or rebellion, when public safety requires it, he may, for a period not exceeding sixty days, suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus or place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law. Within forty-eight hours from the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, the President shall submit a report in person or in writing to the Congress.

“The Congress, voting jointly, by a vote of at least majority of all its members in regular or special session, may revoke such proclamation or suspension, which revocation shall not be set aside by the President. Upon the initiative of the President, the Congress may, in the same manner extend such proclamation or suspension for a period to be determined by Congress, if the invasion or rebellion shall persist and public safety requires it.

“The Congress, if not in session, shall within twenty-four hours following such proclamation or suspension, convene in accordance with its rules without need of a call.

“The Supreme Court may review, in an appropriate proceeding filed by any citizen, the sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ or the extension thereof, and must promulgate its decision thereon within thirty days from its filing.”

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And now read this:

“The state of martial law does not suspend the operation of the Constitution, nor supplant the functioning of the civil courts or legislative assemblies, nor authorize the conferment of jurisdiction on military courts and agencies over civilians where civil courts are able to function nor automatically suspend the privilege of the writ.

“The suspension of the privilege of the writ shall apply only to persons juridically charged for rebellion or offenses inherent in or directly connected with invasion.

“During the suspension of the privilege of the writ, any person thus arrested or detained shall be judicially charged within three days, otherwise he shall be released.”

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If those hallucinating or are haunted by the bogeyman of martial law will read the Constitution carefully, it’s unlike the 1935 Constitution on which the late dictator President Marcos based his proclamation of Martial Law. The 1987 Constitution, being reactionary to the late dictator’s Martial Law, effectively only contemplates a “paper martial law.”

Aside from this, will the people again accept a martial law regime where freedoms of speech, assembly, press and almost every other civil right is suppressed? Santa Banana, anybody speculating on martial law has not learned lessons from history.

It’s for this reason why I feel sad that a former speaker like Joe de Venecia would say that President Arroyo, if only to stay in power beyond 2010, and worse, if only to avoid being charged with crimes her critics and the opposition imagined in their minds, would declare a “paper tiger” like martial law under the Cory Constitution.

I’m afraid Joe de V’s loss of his speakership has gotten the better of the man.

If Joe can take an unsolicited advice, he would do well just to keep silent, and not resort to muckraking against the President since those who throw much at others have much in their hands.

My gulay, being an astute politician, and having been dubbed as the “ultimate trapo,” Joe should be reminded of the adage that those who live in glass houses shouldn’t go around throwing stones!

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No doubt about it, the debate and brouhaha over cha-cha or Charter change will again be in the deadlines of newspapers and television networks in the weeks to come.

This brouhaha over cha-cha will go fever pitch since there are those salivating for the presidency and a seat in the Senate. It’s the best ticket for media publicity.

Now, what mode will be taken for cha-cha is anybody’s guess at this point since the Senate and the House of Representatives cannot agree; first, on whether it will be Constituent Assembly; second, whether the House can go it alone without the Senate; and most importantly, which is the crux of the debate, whether it will be voting jointly or separately.

There’s also the move of both Speaker Prospero Nograles and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to amend the economic provisions of the Charter like the ordinary procedure of enacting a law. As for the mode proposed by others that it should be through a Constitutional Convention, there are also differences of opinion.

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What is sad about cha-cha, which is something we need like yesterday, and which critics and opponents of the President admit is imperative, is that Gloria’s enemies and critics are making it a national issue. They claim she is behind it to extend her term by shifting to the parliamentary system to enable her to run for a member of the parliament and become prime minister.

So, what’s wrong with the shift to a parliamentary system if that’s what the people want since amendments to the Constitution will still be ratified in a plebiscite called for that purpose? Thus, if Gloria runs in her district and wins as member of the parliament, that’s all up to her constituents. And if she becomes prime minister, that’s the rule of law in a democracy.

The bottom line here is that it’s the people, in the final analysis, that will decide the fate of our country, to the President’s critics, her political enemies, much less the “enemies of the state” disguised as party-list representatives.

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What? Speaker Prospero Nograles wants Congress to conduct a performance audit of President Arroyo’s Cabinet to find out who among them are not implementing GMA’s policies?

Santa Banana, is a performance audit of members of the Cabinet a function now of Congress? Hasn’t the Speaker ever heard of the separation of the legislative and the executive that he now wants to dictate on who should be members of the Cabinet.

Yes, Congress has an oversight function over the executive based on the system of check-and-balance in a democracy. But not to audit members of the Cabinet and tell the President who is performing and who is not. That, my dear Boy Nograles, is the sole prerogative of the President!