y mid-afternoon yesterday, October 25, the news was out that the Philippine Supreme Court had voted against the charter change petition of Sigaw Ng Bayan and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP). In a split vote of eight to seven, with Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban casting the deciding vote, the high court slammed the door on the "initiative" method for amending the Philippine Constitution.

The close eight to seven vote highlighted the strong arguments on both sides of the issue and helped buoy the spirits of the losing camp who will file a motion for reconsideration.

But even as Sigaw Ng Bayan and ULAP ask the court to reconsider, the strategy of Charter Change proponents has shifted to "Plan B." This is where congress convenes as a Constituent Assembly and changes the constitution to create a unicameral, parliamentary form of government.

The basis for "Plan B" lies in the wording of the 1987 constitution itself. By intent, or--most likely--by oversight, the framers of Cory Aquino's hastily cobbled constitution states only that a "three-fourths vote of all the members of Congress" is all that is needed to amend the constitution. This in effect means that if the lower house by itself can get 195 of its members to sign on to a Charter Change resolution, they will not need even a single senator's vote.

The vast majority of senators, are naturally opposed to charter change and the shift to a parliamentary form of government as this would mean the abolition of the Senate. As one local pundit put it: "expect the senators to fight tooth and nail to save their sorry behinds."

But the groundswell of change for scrapping the current form of government grows stronger with each passing day. Admittedly, there are a few Filipinos who still believe that an American-style bi-cameral system should work in the Philippines...well, it hasn't! Both the process and the people different. What we need is a form of government that works best for the Filipino people, not just a "copy-cat" facsimile of the American model.