Ferddie's World: NO to CON

Public outrage and dismay primarily towards legislators at the Philippine House of Representatives and the Arroyo administration have reached record highs with the adoption of House Resolution No. 1109 convening the members of Congress into a constituent assembly, their latest attempt and by far the most dangerous and self-serving process in amending the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Basically, all the arguments for and against for amending what provisions of the Constitution have been laid down, including the possible ways of doing them. I’m not going to belabor them in this post. Rather, I simply wanted to be counted as one of the many Filipinos who share in the communal disgust for the brazen arrogance of these “representatives” knowing fully well the popular sentiment which demands that at the very least, renewed debates, schedules and moves to effect any form of charter change would come AFTER the 2010 elections. This “bold and unprecedented” move by the House of Representatives was not successful in anything except in showing their detachment and alienation from the people they claim to represent.

This post is not meant to convince the concerned legislators to change their minds. It would seem from the recent comments of the House Speaker that they would not budge despite strong protests over their actions. These lawmakers, who have been ‘exorcised’ several times in the past for their views on Cha-Cha, would not change their ways short of an actual exorcism ritual.

As always in the past, true social change never comes from the “elite”.

As history would demonstrate, it often comes from the concerted and selfless efforts of ordinary people like you and me.