Here comes everybody

Remember the slime mold I wrote about some columns ago which was studied by a Japanese scientist, and how it reached out for the food even without an apparent intelligence? It became the basis of an exciting modern theory on the intelligent group behavior with implications in other fields, including human behavior. Here’s what they found out the slime mold has done something far more mysterious, a trick of biology that had confounded scientists for centuries: "The slime mold behavior was so odd, in fact that understanding it required thinking outside the boundaries of traditional disciplines. The slime mold spends much of its life as thousands of distinct single- celled units, each moving separately from its other comrades. Under the right conditions, these myriad cells will coalesce again into a single, larger organism which then begins its leisurely crawl across the garden floor consuming rotting leaves and wood as it moves about. When the environment is less hospitable, the slime mold acts as a single organism, when the weather turns cooler and the mold enjoys a large food supply "it becomes a "they".The slime mold oscillates between being a single creature and a swarm.

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The behavior of the slime mold is a good metaphor for the groups which crowded the Café Centennial of the Club Filipino yesterday. The persons who were there can be said to belong to such disparate groups – basic sector, business, military, religious, Congress, Senate, OFWs, federalists, local government, women, think tanks and academe – but under the right conditions they came together as one in their desire for constitutional change. There was a time when it would have been impossible to gather such groups for a common cause but yesterday’s meeting proved once and for all that there is a public clamor for constitutional change and it is pervasive. The main agenda of the meeting was to sign a declaration of intent (published in this column last Saturday) that would commit all advocates of constitutional change to a process of negotiation until they reached a broad consensus on a new constitution. The main difference that cut across lawmakers and NGOs was the mode for change, whether it ought to be by constitutional convention or constituent assembly. The meeting ended with a conciliatory note that the matter will continue to be debated until the most practical decision could be reached given persuasive reasons for both options. That is, after all, what constitution-ma-king is all about, a continuous process of negotiation until a constitution can be accepted and voted upon in a plebiscite.

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In drafting a common declaration of intent, we kept in mind most concerns of the citizenry in wanting constitutional change now. Filipinos overseas were very much present in the meeting because the convenors put them in the very first sentence of the declaration – Filipinos, whether at home or abroad. It includes a historical perspective so that Filipinos are conscious of the rich legacy of our heroes and ancestors. The quest for good governance is a never-ending process and the different constitutions in our history are reflective of that quest. A clarification should perhaps be made to those who complained of the use of the declaration of the First Political Summit last May which seemed to favor a Constitutional Convention in 2004. This is a quotation to emphasize the continuity of our efforts of finding the constitution that best reflects our efforts at nationbuilding. The declaration merely quotes from the articles of the political summit and is not a position as far as the mode for constitutional change is concerned. That decision as the lawmakers present will be subject to debate and other factors will also be considered.

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The Texas 10. It is important for Americans in the Philippines to know that while we acknowledge the good things they say and do, there are also those that are unacceptable. Freedom of press means the freedom to criticize. For those who are following the developments on the case of the Texas 10, here is part of a letter from Gus Mercado:

"Score another one for the detainees! Every time one of the detainees gets an offer for a misdeameanor (more like a firm slap on the wrist, no criminal record), it is a victory for them, their attorneys and us, their advocates. Two days ago, one of the ‘Texas 5’ who pleaded innocent and going to trial – Mr. Remigio Guemo, 50 of Cavite, an excellent record-keeper – was offered a plea bargain for a misdemeanor. He is the second among the original Texas 10 to receive a misdemeanor. After his final hearing, Mr. Guemo will be transferred to the INS court and God willing, he could be granted a voluntary departure and will be home in the Philippines for Christmas! Without a felony conviction on his record, he is free to return with a proper visa. That could be our next project – to request his employer or another airline to file a legal H1B petition for him. Mr. Guemo is one of the Filipino mechanics who received a model employee commendation from their employer, Spirit Aviation. Congratulations to Mr. Guemo and his family! So now, unless high-level divine or political intervention comes through,the remaining four (Rosauro Banaban, Eliseo Tolentino, Jose Maglalang and Herman Bendoval) will insist on their innocence and will see their day in court this coming week. We continue to hope for high-level intervention or continued media pressure on the prosecutors to look at these cases in perspective – that it has become a product of overzealous post 9/11 reaction."

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Why Parliament is better. From Oscar Barrera <[email protected]> comes a good explanation on why parliamentary government will be better for the Philippines. IN THE WORLD OF THE BLIND THE ONE-EYED IS KING – The highly personalized nature of Direct voting for the Presidency, and the multiple candidacy system and ABSENCE of RUNOFF election (when no candidate obtains 51 percent, a new balloting is done on the TOP TWO candidates, as in most countries with Presidential systems) In ’98, Erap with only 39 percent won, but maybe if there was a runoff the 61 percent might have followed Cardinal Sin – anybody but Erap – NOW in 2004, we face a repeat with the movie crowd of 39 percent (and growing with birth rates far exceeding the average of 2.4 percent) still there for FPJ! In a parliamentary, we directly elect our representatives. EVEN granting that choices will be mediocre, in the choice of their leader amongst them, the natural and logical tendency will be to have one better than themselves. By this two-step process there is an improvement in the Quality. The Greeks and Romans had this system, when their senate would choose their Emperors. Direct voting is glamorous democracy, but NOT when the voters are unprepared to discard their desire for fiesta campaigns, movie idols, selling votes. Even in the USA, there is a 2 step process, The popular votes per state determines which party wins ALL the electoral voters of a state. In turn, totaling the Electoral votes determines the winner, not the total national popular or actual individual votes. Bush won even if Gore had more direct votes!

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My e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected].