Constitutional Amendments/Charter Change —
Why I do not favor Con-Ass? Why I favor Con-Con?
By “Con-Ass” we mean Constitutional Assembly or Constituent Assembly to be composed by the existing Congress members, namely: district representatives (Congressmen) and the Senators.
By “Con-Con” we mean Constitutional Convention to be composed by to-be-newly-elected-by-the-people representatives, e.g., also by district.
Now, why I do not favor Con-Ass and why do I favor Con-Con?
Answer: Our congressmen and senators do not, in reality, represent the sentiments, needs and aspirations of our people – the majority masses. They only represent the geographical subdivision of our nation, but do not represent the minds and hearts of our people. What they really represent is their own self-interest – the ambitions of their clan or family matriarchs or patriarchs are their aims and purposes, not the real needs of the people.
So, to achieve a real and beneficial Charter Change, it must be by Con-Con. A specific kind of Con-Con, the People’s Con-Con, not the Trapo’s Con-Con!
Who will compose the People’s Con-Con?
First, no traditional politician or current politician nor his relatives can run for the People’s Con-Con, except in the only case where they will compose only one unified group or association to be represented by one representative and their interest-group be called “Traditional Politicians’ Association” or a more decent name.
People’s Con-Con must be composed by legitimate POs (People’s Organizations) and NGOs (Non-Government Organizations). Government registration or accreditation must not be a mandatory requirement because there are active and productive NGOs or POs that have not registered in CDA, DTI, DOLE or SEC. Registering your names in these government agencies does not make your PO or NGO alive and effective. More effective are those that do not register, such as the NPA, MILF or the non-violent Agasoft. These groups have valid reasons why they don’t register.
For instance, our NGO, the Agasoft (which stands for Agape-Sophia Foundation) which nurtures the Small and Medium-sized Entrepreneurs, backs up righteous politicians, seeks to develop and mold the youth, promotes true brotherhood, opposes the extreme left (e.g., loss of legitimate God-approved freedoms; the revenge of communism) and the extreme right (e.g., abuse of power and immoral-sinful methods of accumulating wealth and its selfish use; abuses of capitalism) — we cannot qualify the required minimum number of incorporators (e.g., 15) due to our very high standard of character (integrity). Our links and members-beneficiaries easily exceed 15, but those who can qualify to direct Agasoft at the helm, we are only four. But our reach is international.
We may be illegal because we do not register in SEC, but there is no such thing as illegal in the eyes of God if your purpose is the “True Fatherhood of God, brotherhood of man” and not the abuse of such sacred phrase.
Now back to the issue.
The reason why POs and NGOs are flourishing is the decreasing competence of the Government (National and the LGUs) to meet the needs of our people’s families. Read: the fast eroding of the credibility of our politicians.
Those in the government — these politicians — have proved to be effective and brilliant ONLY in meeting their hidden (untold), ulterior, selfish interests of their own families, and they terribly fail in meeting the needs of our people and their families.
If the Con-Con method will be used but the rich political clans and families be allowed to run, then, our POs and NGOs will get driven out by the power of money and influence of these traditional or selfish political clans/families. Then, Con-Con will be no different than Con-Ass – both will be a collection of the rich, the greedy, the selfish, and the wicked.
So, it shall be a Con-Con of the POs and NGOs --- the People’s Con-Con — take it or leave it.
… if we want true changes!!
Final reminder: The rich and the mighty shall not be unrepresented in this true People’s Con-Con. They shall form a separate block or group. Their interest still is to be considered even if it is already overly considered.
On the other hand, all sectors of the people must be fully and well represented. This is not difficult because of the existing POs and NGOs. All we have to do is NATIONALIZED THE GROUP OF FISHERMEN, for example, and let there be local chapters in every locality or convert all existing independent groups of fishermen in the towns and barangays all over the country into members of this newly organized national organization. By this national organization, the fishing people’s sentiments, problems and aspirations shall finally be represented, unified and pursued.
Their local objectives may be retained, however, such as funeral assistance, friendship and camaraderie, etc., but some national, nobler and for-all objectives must also be added. This kind of objectives is what is missing to make our fishermen a force to reckon with.
For example. Nobler Objectives such as: To deliberately increase the population of the fishes by the non-catching of fries, returning of egg-laying or ‘pregnant’ mother fishes, LGU to provide works for fishermen during stormy weather or during seasons of egg-laying or fries to give them the alternative income, thus, prevent them from catching the baby and egg-carrying mother fishes, the provision of higher form of fishing equipment to allow the poor finally participate in the harvest of the fish sanctuaries which only the rich’s fishing boats are harvesting with their powerful ‘lighting’ instruments to lure the multitude of fishes nursed, grown and fatted inside the fish sanctuary intended for the poor within the 15- kilometer span from the seashore to the depth — fish grown within the poor fisherman’s sanctuary only to be lured by powerful lights of the rich man’s boat which stands by the edge of the 15-km boundary, thus, the rich man harvests what the poor ‘grows’ and ‘owns’ but cannot enjoy for lack of fishing instrument — these and many other concerns are worth the idea to unify all fishermen not only for the sake of their present, but above all for the future of their children.
The same is true with the other sectors of our society.
The killer-price of fertilizer and the abusive purchasing practices of the businessmen are some of the important issues which the rice farmers should address in a unified national manner.
The careless increases of bakery input such as flour (e.g., from P265.00 a sack to P650.00 in just a span of 4 years!) or fuel (e.g., gasul/pricegas, from P150 a tank some 4 years ago to the dreaded e-vat-triggered P515.00 price) — while for pity of the poor and their unwillingness, to increase our bread price to P1.50 or P2.00 a piece is so hard to do — and the role that globalization plays in this problem, the worrying method of bakery ingredient manufacturers and bakery owners to resort to the use of chemicals to blow and bloat the decreased and very small measure of dough into big-looking bread to look big like the former, and the use of chemicals to increase the flavor and appearance, in addition, to the size — these are concerns that cannot be left unattended in the face of the growing scientific evidence and discoveries that CHEMICALS, WHICH ARE NOT GONE THROUGH THE PROCESS OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS (SUNLIGHT-INITIATED CLEANSING) INSIDE THE LIVING PLANTS’ LEAVES, ARE BEGINNING TO BE SEEN AS THE CULPRIT OF THE APPEARANCE OF NEVER-HEARD-BEFORE DEADLY DISEASES LIKE CANCERS (mainly due to various chemicals present in processed food), DIABETES (mainly due to chemically made sugars, etc.), CARDIO-VASCULAR DISEASES, etc.
The up-to-now seemingly inexplicable shortening of our age (lifespan) from a hundred (enjoyed by our grandparents) to 50 years old, and the equally inexplicable presence of these painful diseases in the last half of our life – this must be associated, as new scientific discoveries are beginning to show, to the advent of chemicals that enter our bodies as drinks, food, smoke, medicines, skin beauty enhancers, etc., etc.
These are concerns that America is recently forced to look at, although very quietly! She is the first being forced to do so because of the terrible increase of cancers (a family without a member suffering from cancer, diabetes or cardio-vascular diseases is now an exception than the rule!) and other diseases of consumption that is melting this great nation into decaying pain-filled bodies of dying persons!
These are concerns, brothers, that must unite our bakery owners if they care for the health and safety of our people and if they are afraid of what God has told our fore-parents long time ago, What you sowed, you will reap. And what you did to the least of these poor people, you did that to Me.
Oh! We forgot these things in our pre-occupation to make both ends meet. But the Judge has not forgotten! We will be judged how we treated His law, “You shall love Jehovah [Eternal Father] your God above all and your neighbor as yourself.”
WE can go on and on and list all valid — very valid — concerns that every sector of our society must address in order to help abate the crisis that more than economic and more than political. This is first and foremost, a crisis of the mind and heart, as it is a crisis of the body. This is an issue of our disobedience to some laws we have neglected so much despite the fact that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, has told us in advance. The Seven Last Plagues listed in Revelation 16 are results of our own doing. The first plague is “incurable, painful, ugly sores or gangrene” led by cancers, diabetes, ulcers, cardio-vascular diseases, etc. The next plagues concerns environmental pollutions of our waters, lands, etc. The sun-plague refers to today’s increasing heat-wave, global warming, depletion of ozone layers and their effects, such as skin cancers, hurricanes, storms, etc. Why is this? Wrath of God? So the Scripture calls it. But, in fairness to God, look, we are now seeing that our use of air-polluting, ozone-depleting, fossil fuel (e.g., gasoline) is the culprit! WE ARE THE CAUSE!
Plague No. 5 – Government chaos, panic and confusion — is now happening right in our very own noses! I am not a religious man. I am just a thinking Christian who sees that God’s prophesies are coming to get fulfilled simply because we did not listen to God’s warning to “come out of her [Babylon’s spiritual, economic-political system of insatiable greed and pride] My people, lest you will partake of her sins and plagues [consequences]!”
I am sorry for getting deep into the realm of the spirit. We cannot escape it anyway, for we are 2/3 spirit (mind and heart), and only 1/3 physical (body). The spirit part lasts and does not die, but the physical dies, decays, dismantles into separate atoms (dusts) and disappear. But man continues to live as a spirit (soul).
That should not strike you. We are taught by our Scriptures and it’s time to discuss our problems using the Word of God as a light unto our eyes, and lamp into our feet. For a very long time, we, Filipinos, discuss, address, combat our problems with the armour of God (Word of God) placed in the corner – dust-covered, neglected. It is tantamount of denying or rejecting Jesus Christ whom we claim to be our Savior. But how can we be saved if and when we reject the advice of our Savior — His word? Indeed, we are a unique people. We claim to be Christian, but we prove to the world by our own deeds and practices, that we are the most unlike-Christ and anti-Christ in our actions and even in our words, but especially in our secret attitudes and dealings!
Now, may I stop this before getting too critical. I am not here to condemn. I am here to practice “LOVE THE SINNERS (all of us are!) BY HATING THE SINS”.
Let us move on to our strategy: Nationalization of sectoral organizations.
After the purpose and objectives are nationalized, without destroying their existing local objectives, the name of the organization should also be only one. Because of this inner-outer nationalization of POs, a barangay PO will become powerful and effective in its attainment of its objectives, in its advocacy or in its complaint because the national or parent organization shall assist its efforts.
A very sad existing proof of how weak our POs are today in comparison to the politicians’ LGUs, is the non-implementation of existing beautiful provisions (in the Local Government Code of 1991) of sectoral representatives in the provincial, municipal and barangay Sanggunians as kagawads and, secondly, the real (not fake) membership of our POs and NGOs in the Local Development Council (LDCs) where the 20% Development Fund should be fairly and generously divided among the concerns of the sectors represented by their POs and NGOs, and not for the sole discretion of the governors, mayors and barangay captains.
The implementation of the Local Government Code started in 1992. But why are these pro-people, pro-poor provisions not properly and honestly implemented by our governors, mayors and barangay captains – they whose Job No. 1 is to execute the law starting day 1 of their office? The Executive Branch of our government is tasked to execute the law, not execute the people by their refusal to implement the law!
Besides these provisions on sectoral representatives to the Sanggunian and Local Development Councils (LDCs), there is another provision that is being overlooked by our very good executives, namely: the 40% share of the gross proceeds from the utilization and development of natural resources which the owner-LGU is entitled to.
Before we talk about Cha-Cha or Charter Change, it is better to look at our existing Constitution and Local Government Code. They contain many very good provisions which our politician officials refuse to execute or about which they keep the people ignorant, thanks to the lack of books or teachers of the law.
Result: project of steel and concrete abound because from these projects they can receive large kick-backs (commissions), but our people starve, and our women are forced to sell their bodies (and this without shame anymore) to foreigners and also our very own overseas mariners as soon as the ship docks in foreign ports! When my cousin asked them, “Why are you doing this?”, our very own Filipina women answered, “This is better than to stay in our country to starve to death. At least, from the money we can earn here, we can send portion of it to feed our husbands and children!”
For every 20 women who went out of their country, 19 of these ended up prostitutes! That’s logical! For who is so fool a prime minister or president of a foreign country to give priority employment or decent jobs to Filipinas while many of their own women are still not employed? That is why OUR PITIFUL FILILIPAS, WITH VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS, ARE EMPLOYED ABROAD ONLY IN WORKS WHICH THE WOMEN THERE ARE REJECTING, namely: housekeeping, AND IN INDECENT WORKS such as prostitution to satisfy the lust of the men there who don’t treat us, the husbands, as their brothers but exploit our weakness! Our wives cost only what is to them cigarette-coins! They do not cost their dollar bills! Only their pennies!
For love’s sake, we must pity our wives! We must pity ourselves – our children, too! What will happen when germs start to eat up the once beautiful and clean bodies of our beloved wives? What about their broken hearts – broken spirits? Will they ever forgive us if we remain callous? What kind of men are we?
What will happen to us, when, instead of dollars, trillions of AIDS-germs will be remitted to our country five or ten years from now? Do we comprehend how devastating will that be to our already weak nation?
Can we comprehend the damage when sexually active Balik Bayans roam around our neighborhoods especially in dark hours, to spread these dreadful diseases that can knock down our immune system? When our immune system is broken down, any minor disease can kill us! And what about the tremendous loss of mental as well as physical strength preventing us to work and solve our poverty? How can we conquer poverty if we are conquered by AIDS and STDs?
I can go on and on and continue this article using tears as my ink to finish this litany of painful tragedies that have befallen our country — WE NEED TO ACT, my dear countrymen! We need to act before these women come home bringing AIDS and STDs as their gifts to the nation! We’ve got to take our women back! Save her. She is not a hero as Mr. Ramos called her — she is actually a victim!! Our beloved pitiful wife!
For God’s sake, we must pity her! We must save them!
And yet, our mayors and governors post in their offices: TESA-assisted “FLY NOW PAY LATER…. FOR FEMALE APPLICANTS ONLY”!
If FEDERALISM can help direct our government money (TAXES) back to our provinces, towns and own cities to create more jobs at home, then, let us go for federalization.
Whatever we can do we must do and must do it QUICK!
The casualties (women abused, or turned into prostitutes, sold through internet-back flesh trade or rings of prostitutions; children destroyed by drugs or broken families; destroyed marriages; you name them) are increasing everyday!
We must find solutions – no matter how naïve they might appear at first to be.
If we can still maximize our abandoned fields and farms and turn them into orchards to produce P375,000.00 a year per 15 mango trees (that is, some P30,000.00 a month), then, why hesitate doing that? Why won’t our OFWs invest in this? Fifteen mango trees will not take much bigger than 1,000 square meters of land, I estimate, which most families in the country today owns! What family can remain poor if it earns P30,000.00 a month? P30,000.00 a month is a manager’s salary! More than the salary of most mayors!
Let us go back and finally realize, brothers, that GOD WANTS US TO DETERMINE WHICH IS MORE REALIABLE AS “FUTURE SECURITY”: the OFW-employment or creating our own diamond fields right in our own home and backyard? The SSS or the mango tree? The GSIS or the mango trees? The CAP or the mango trees? The Pacific Plans or the mango trees? The Platinum Plans or mango trees? His trees or man’s business? He or man? He or government?
“Mango tree” can also mean any other profitable and above all, enduring fruit trees.
In the face of our economic crisis where giants fall one after another, may I ask: Whose system works better: God’s or man’s? Who is our security: God or ourselves?
We praised too much man’s system. We spurned God’s old ways of farming. We hated the land. We left it. We abandoned old parents! We were attracted by the glitters of materialism and the beckoning ‘lights’ of the city. Because we preferred SSS or GSIS or CAP or anything like them!
I do not mean we totally abandon business or government, but we must come to realize that our rejection of farming, or our distaste of the land, due to the pride that comes from being a college or university graduate is wrong! Totally wrong! Didn’t Christ told us to “Come to Me…learn from Me… Humility and Gentleness”? But there we have gotten from schools – diploma and pride!
And so we rejected land, old parents, old houses and God!
Above all, because of our rejection of God and His methods of living, we have fallen into the pit of our own making! And this crisis-pit is not going to disappear until we will have learned to acknowledge HIM. That I can guarantee us all!
Orchard or fruit farming has the potential of being able to finance a family member’s talent and career development, and business ventures, without resorting to the deadly loan sharks! Imagine how many businesses could have flourished today if these were financed by the free and interest-free income of the family orchards, instead of the loan sharks or banks that ironically drove to bankruptcy (thankfully!) what they ‘disguised’ to help.
The Philippines has a still untapped great potential of becoming the producer-exporter of many different fruits that only the Philippines and a few tropical nations are very much blessed by God to grow. We can supply the rest of the world, over 150 nations to be our fruit market.
Possibilities are limitless – if we can work together! If we can realize the value of God’s gift — the land and the fruit trees!
That can solve our growing menace of prostitutions. Brethren, Let us sell fruits, not flesh! Only one is our hindrance: the sin called IMPATIENCE! Synonym: THE DESIRE TO GET-RICH-QUICK until God’s method of hard work, humility, patience and honesty is violated!
And because of that, to go back to the farm has become so difficult to do due to so much abuse of the soil and due to the tremendous time we have lost already. There is a way to catch up, but TEAMWORK BETWEEN GOVERNMENT, NGOs AND POs IS REQUIRED.
If this teamwork is formed, then, I foresee that within 5 or not longer than 10 years, we can save this nation from its worsening economic woes.
The ideal family economic system should revolve around the orchard (fruit tree farming; if there is rice or vegetables, the better) and in the development of our talents into industries and business enterprises! Think about the musician who owns an orchard and some cows under his mango trees. Think about a writer or book author who writes under his fruit tree. Think about each mango or chico tree has one cow under its shade. Think about a doctor residing in one island province in the Philippines who is reported to have owned some 5,000 mango trees and 5,000 cows, one cow per tree. And think about him being able to purchase air-conditioned buses in cash now plying the province’s highways!
Think about this combination of LAND and MIND to solve our problems.
***
To be truly stable, a family business must be based on the talent-skill of its founder. The reason why businesses today are going out as fast as they are coming in, is because these are not based on the talents of the owners, but are a hurry-up cramming act of the OFW, for example, who has gotten the money from abroad without realizing that money is a shallow-foundation of any business. Talent, if I were to be allowed to say, is the most reliable foundation of a business that is destined to grow and last. You can establish a stable business that grows and lasts, out from scratch, without money, with talent. To be a little bit direct, IF YOU WANT TO SUCCEED IN YOUR BUSINESS AND LET IT LAST, BASE IT ON YOUR TALENT!
“Agro-industrial” is the name of the solution to our economic difficulties. But this has to be also based on a change of attitude, behavior and practices — an inner change of the mind and heart. For no matter how large your orchard is, and no matter how great you are as a musician and how rich, these will all be drowned and defeated if you are greedy, vicious, a womanizer, a gambler, one who does not love God, country or fellowmen and self!
Thus, as far as the outward SYSTEMS solution is concerned, not to forget the inner transformation that is a must for each of us, the best trend to push here in the Philippines shall be the (1) NATIONALIZATION OF THE POs AND NGOs; while on the other hand, (2) the DECENTRALIZATION (or the breaking into pieces of power) OF THE GOVERNMENT!
WHAT IS MEANT HERE IS THIS: LET US DISABLE AND EVEN DISMANTLE WHEN NECESSARY ANY ESTABLISHED SYSTEM OR INSTITUTION OR AT LEAST RADICALLY STREAMLINE IT, IF AT ITS PRESENT SET-UP, IT SUPPORTS THE GREED OF THE FEW AND CAUSES THE SUFFERINGS OF THE MANY!
If you ask me what for example, then, I am quick to response: The government bureaucracy is one of the best pilot project of streamlining, because old, aged, well-entrenched thieves are lurking inside offices, more corrupt than our elective officials!!
Try processing your land title and you will understand what I mean! Try paying your business taxes and you will know what I mean!
If we can attain this vision of empowering the PO-NGO and “de-powering” the government, then, we are in the right direction.
My sad refrain is: This would not have been necessary if only our politicians were capable of loving their neighbor (e.g., constituents) as they love themselves.
They should understand that our God does not tell them to hate their families or themselves, but as they love themselves (including their families) they ought and are duty-bound to proceed to serve with love their neighbors (or constituents) who pay them through taxes.
I hope I am properly understood. I do not intend that there will become a casualty in this revolutionary struggle that we are in. It should be FOR THE RICH AND FOR THE POOR. We must strike for the GOLDEN MIEN — THE SAFE MIDDLE WAY — and avoid any of the two extremes!
As was told to Moses by Jehovah, who does not change, “DO NOT GO TO THE LEFT NOR TO THE RIGHT”! Stay in the center — in the path of God’s Laws — of Divine Love for God, Neighbors and Self. Truly, a beautiful balance!
Therefore, I push for People's Con-Con because this can help address the problems and bring about the ideas we have begun to seriously discuss in this article.
By:
Arnulfo Yu Laniba
Founder, Agape-Sophia Foundation
(Agasoft)
cocoy777@yahoo.com
