Still no to cha-cha

It seems ghastly, the way some political pro-consul from Imperial Manila comes over to these Negros shores and announce that everything about the proposed Charter Change is already accomplished. It's all over but the shouting.

But how can that be when the vast majority of the people don't really know what this cha-cha is all about? They may have a notion, yes, but you don't change a constitution on the basis of a notion.

Hey, we're talking here of a democratic society. The ideal would be a thorough and serious discussion as to what is best for us, not only the form of government but also the matter of what kind of people should run the government.

Because I suspect, and I'm willing to lay a bet, that if we have the same kind of people running the show, we'll either have the same scenario or, worse, a system wherein there are no checks or balances.

A unicameral system may be okay in theory, but imagine a legislature orchestrated by clever politicians - and what do you get? I bet you even if the Central Bank certifies that Garci's passport is faked, nobody, but nobody (okay, okay, almost nobody) would have the balls to go against the Palace.

Do Cha-Cha assemblies remind you of the Marcos-type barangay assemblies that used to be employed as icing of Marcos' chocolate cake? Will the Palace use this provision in the Local Government Code to summon the barangay bureaucracy to help whatever agenda is being prepared in the passage of proposed Charter .

Anyway, I feel the great weariness of most people, vis-à-vis, political concerns. It's either that they've lost all faith in the system and/or the political culture that shakes this country now and predictably in the days to come.

In the end, the theory is that the constitution is the people's. It is the dam that prevents the forces of misused power from trampling on their rights. The constitution is the guardian angel, the document that spells out how far the government can go in exercising its prerogatives.

We need to have more dialogs on the proposed constitution. The national interest is not served by a servile society nor by uninterested one.

* * *

INDIA DIARY: On February 15 we finally gazed on Taj Mahal, bright and brilliant in the morning sun. Most people gasp on viewing the famed mausoleum for the first time. I observed some tourists immobile and silent contemplating the legendary structure. I noted the elongated pool, leading the eyes to the middle of the building. I remember, the legendary adventurer Ricard Haliburton cavorted in these waters one moonlight night. But that was years and years ago when "terrorist" was a strange and foreign word. And security and surveillance of Taj Majal was minimal. In any event I managed to dip my hands in the waters of the pool. My poor gesture to Haliburton.

One does not rush madly into the mausoleum. The short walk from the entrance is a time to ask --- why was this structure built? It supposedly involved the labor of 20,000 people toiling for uncounted years. Is there a love that great, a grief that profound, that one hurls an architectural challenge to time itself or was Shah Jahan so stricken with guilt (he fathered 14 children with Muntaz Mahal), the childbirth of the last progeny, causing her to fall sick and die.

(The talk is that Shah Jahan told the Emperor that he should take good care of their children, that he should not re-marry, and lastly, that he would erect a mausoleum that will earn the wonder of the world.) One can multiply the question. I myself, as I amble to the mausoleum, ask ---- why should this structure bewitch? Why should its proportions fascinate?

Is it the marble? The petra dura? Ultimately one has to leave these matters to the architects, the experts, to the Leonardo Da Vincis of this world.

At last, after tiring of gazing at the exterior of Taj Mahal we went inside where Muntaz Majal and Shah Jahan are laid out. The mausoleum used to be opened to the public but was later closed. Just too many tourists. However, pictures show two wondrously decorated petra dura mausoleums, one of which is higher than the other. I assume this is where the Emperor lies.

So who were these guys who built Taj Mahal? They were called Mughals and they were the descendants of the famed Mongols. The Mongols originated in the steppes of central Asia and later on conquered many countries., Babur, the forefather of Shah Jahn was the 5th descendant of Tamerlane and the 14th descendant of Genghis Khan they were Muslims. But let's not, for now, get stuck up in the mud nd mire of Indian history and just focus our eyes on that piece of marble called Taj Mahal.*

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