Special powers again? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 03/02/2010

Special powers again? FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 03/02/2010 There is a call for Gloria Arroyo to declare a state of emergency and get from Congress special powers to resolve the power problem, which is now hitting Metro Manila, as residents are experiencing rotating brownouts. It has often made me wonder how special powers granted to a president — no matter which president — can help that president — in this case, Gloria — resolve the power crisis, especially now that she has about three more months to the end of her term in Malacañang. Just how does one solve the power crisis through special powers? It is not as if these powers are God-like, in the sense of an omnipotent God merely saying, “let there be light,” and there was — or so it is claimed in Genesis. What these special powers do for a president — and this has been proved in at least two past presidencies — is to provide the Malacañang tenant and her cronies the opportunity to make money in the next three months — sort of a last two minutes money making deals.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100302com2.html

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