Con-ass, No-el

Mr. Duterte himself.

No-el and term extension for the incumbents. Right now, these are the two issues uppermost in the public consciousness and that is dangerous for the proponent of the shift. Very dangerous is the word.

If we remember our history, Mr. Ramos, a perfectly competent president who succeeded in pacifying the divided political forces during his term, saw his public trust and appreciation ratings sink to an alltime low during the dying months of his six- year term, when his political surrogates attempted to do a charter change, which would

The Erap political forces, then allied with the political Left, - stream political parties in opposing that effort. The packed anti-cha-cha protest at Rizal Park discouraged the efforts of the Ramos surrogates. The political strategists of Mr. Duterte have to remember this piece of history.

The pro-Duterte and pro-federal form strategists have the urgent agenda of moving the public discussions from the known fears – no-el and term extension – into what they view as the silver linings at the end of that process, the bonanzas that the country would reap from an overhauled form of government. Before they can even write the initial draft of the proposed federal form of government.

Time and again, Filipinos, the voiceless and the faceless teaming up with the political opposition, have demonstrated that they, not the political mandarins, are the ultimate arbiters of the country’s political future.

Any change, any disruption in the political process have to have the consent of the governed.

The shift to a federal form of government, a disruption of epic proportion, will only take place on the consent of the governed .

Wait. About Plan B, which is to vest Mr. Duterte with law -writing powers ala Marcos during the transition period of 10 years. The take of most Filipinos is this: Don’t even think about it.