Gone too soon...

Michael Jackson dies

The King is dead. Or so they say.

Michael Jackson, the crowned King of Pop, was gone without giving an encore. Abrupt as his success was, his death was sudden and unexpected.

Jackson was a charmer and the perfect entertainer as a child prodigy. He became bigger than life before he even actually grew up. His songs were the universal language of pop. People of different races adored him like, indeed, he was King.

Then as his skin color and face faded, his persona gradually suffered. Intrigues and scandals battered him to showbiz oblivion. Come to think of it, Michael Jackson died a long time ago.

But his music will live forever.

We all, at least once in our lives, belted a Jackson tune in falsetto and laughed ourselves off trying his patented Moonwalker on the dance floor. No matter how weird this person may be, we owe him a great deal of entertainment.

So long, Mr. Jackson. Enjoy your peace.

Cha-Cha is not the enemy

Thousands march in Makati vs. Charter change

Question: What's wrong with amending the Constitution?

Answer: Nada, Nothing, Wala

The public ought to be educated that amending the charter is not evil per se as what is portrayed in the media and is protested in the streets. People should just hold a printed copy of the Constitution and judging by its thickness determine that it needs revising. Looking into the details of its provisions, many will be lost in the meaning. The thing is, we have yet to draft a Constitution that is not in any way influenced by intense political pressure or made under a stable government. In other words, we need a Constitution that is really "well-prepared and well-thought of."

We cannot acomplish this, however, if we bombard every attempt to amend the charter with a huge wave of antagonism characterized by irrelevant pessimism. The right to amend the Constitution is as basic as any human rights. It is even the most important because upon which, the very existence of our nation depends. So we must amend the Constitution if our country is not efficiently functioning under its current framework. We must amend the Constitution if we want to cure our political and social illnesses right at their very roots.

While it is perhaps true that the people initiating the move towards charter change have vested interests, their evil intents cannot just easily prevail as we have a very strict process of amendment. Every word changed or inserted will be scrutinized to the letter. Every motion must undergo approval process. In the end, the amendment will be ratified by the people as the final judge.

What's really the fuss over this current issue is the desperation on the part of our lawmakers to quickly jumpstart the process. And this we must specifically protest if done with utter disregard of rules and procedures. But we should not totally defeat the ultimate purpose - that is making for ourselves a Constitution that can move us forward with the changing times yet still provide every Filipino the basic rights to life, liberty, and property.