By WENDY ATUBAN
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — In a forum, at the University of the Cordilleras here, a new group expressed fear over a no-election scenario judging from the haste in the passage of HR 1109, calling for convening of a constitutional assembly and the rash of recent bombings.

Pagbabago! People’s Movement for Change said the series of bombings may be used as grounds for the declaration of martial law or a state of emergency in which case Con-Ass becomes highly probable.

Prof. Ramón Guillermo of UP Diliman and one of the convener of Pagbabago said a similar situation happened in 1972 when the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos proclaimed Martial Law, after a series of bombings, including a fake ambush on then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile. Guillermo said there are on-going efforts to create a no-election scenario..

Being optimistic, however, despite perceived attempts to frustrate the 2010 elections, Pagbabago calls for the people to work on a people’s agenda to end people’s suffering.

“Wakasan ang kalbaryo ng mamamayan,” (End the people’s calvary!) Guillermo called on his audience. He proposed to achieve this by laying down a people’s criteria on which to evaluate candidates for the coming elections and a peoples’ agenda that can be pursued before, during and after the elections.

A people’s criteria, according to Guillermo, will ensure that people will not be limited again in choosing the ‘lesser evil’ among the candidates.

The organization believes that the first step in attaining good governance which is one of their goals is to start by voting for the right candidate, and this can be done by pruning their choices through a set of criteria.

Pagbabago likewise impressed upon its audience that the change the people are yearning for is more than a change of leadership. It calls for a comprehensive change in the economic, political and cultural life of the people, especially in the values and attitudes of the people themselves.

Pagbabago had its founding assembly in Manila recently and is expanding its ranks in the various regions of the country.

“They (the Filipino people) desire meaningful change: a decisive break from the poverty-ridden, unjust and corrupt social system.”# nordis.net