Duterte’s choice – Con Ass

Last week The Philippine Star celebrated its 30th anniversary with a big bang. Realizing that times have indeed changed, the vision for the coming decade, 30 from Revolution to Evolution clearly tells us where The Philippine Star is headed to. Building its foundation on the onset of the People Power Revolution, the newspaper is now entering the hi-tech, digital age.

If my father, the late Maximo V. Soliven co-founder of The Philippine Star were alive today, he probably would be equally excited at the same time anxious because he was never a “techie”. He wrote his columns using his old and reliable manual typewriter enjoying the clicking, clacking, and tapping sounds it made. He also loved the smell of freshly printed newspaper that brought back memories of the old past.

I wonder what he would have said after listening to Duterte’s SONA last week.  I can just guess that he would have loved it. As his close friend and veteran journalist Nelson Navarro said: “I thought I wouldn’t sit through President Duterte’s first SONA but I did. For one hour and forty minutes. He had so many adlibs and it was a tour de force performance none of the previous presidents would have even thought of or gotten away with…Nobody prowled or was allowed to prowl the corridors before or after to play Joan Rivers’ fashion police. This was the exact opposite of the yellow callow days and what a great relief. No finger pointing, no brickbats, just zingers on crime, drugs, corruption…The three ex-presidents were mentioned in passing and the absent one, well, was deservedly ignored as if he was not from this planet… What a revelation that we could have been spared the puffy dramas and self-serving commentaries that once filled the dead air of SONAS past.”

He continues: “What this spectacle brought to my mind was James Stewart in Mr. Smith goes to Washington, the everyman who suddenly became president and got to speak his mind to the nabobs of power, reducing them to utter absurdity but with the lightness of satire that was truly lethal because the accuser did not exactly accuse or play hero… I loved best Duterte’s great heart for the common people, the Muslims, the rebels in the hills, the squatters, all the outsiders of our country who have simply been shut out of the equation but without whom no real country can be built or expected to arise. Was it laying this message too thickly? I don’t think so. It was long due and just the very fact that he held that huge hall full of flattened egos and the great masses out in the electronic void was, for me, a most exhilarating and liberating moment. If only a few hearts were touched like mine I know it would never have been a waste of time.”

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The president has now expressed his preference of the CON-ASS mode for charter change noting primarily the expensive cost of a CON-CON and the time element. If he chose CON-CON, he may be too late to include it in the 2017 budget (estimated to be five billion pesos), the earliest may be 2018 which means the CON-CON may only begin the process of reviewing the constitution for revisions by 2019.

Given this timeline, Chacha will not happen in this administration, and it may take decades or so before another charismatic leader enjoying the highest popularity rating and solid mass base to spearhead PAGBABAGO without appearing to promote self-interest, passes this path again.

Understandably, some quarters see the CON-ASS with pessimism claiming that it is not democratic; that it is a sure way to railroad Chacha; or that the legislators will only protect their personal interests. Yet, how could this be undemocratic and viewed as a tool to bully and impose upon the people a desired change, when the constitution itself allows CON-ASS to effect amendments or revisions? Certainly, our legal experts could cite the pros and cons of CON-CON, CON-ASS, or People’s Initiative in effecting Chacha, but the point, as I see it, is the necessity to ride the tide of change being waged by a government that enjoys the trust of almost every Filipino.

With the administration’s supermajority in both houses of congress, even the contentious issue of whether the House of Representatives and the Senate should vote separately or jointly may have become moot and academic. And while there is no guarantee until we see it happen, there is reason to believe that the CON-ASS will not do anything contrary to the people-oriented advocacies of the president. Thus, instead of a proposal lifting term limits of elected officials, we might see in the proposed Chacha, a clear provision against Political Dynasties that would no longer need an enabling law from congress. This is very important if federalism is truly the way for the Philippines, otherwise, the federal units might become mini-kingdoms ruled by mini-kings and their relatives. Certainly, the President will not frustrate the people and he will lay his reputation, his life, and the presidency for a genuine Chacha.             

Some people think that it would be more responsible for the Speaker of the House Pantaleon Alvarez to guide Congress to submit legislation requesting to form a Commission to develop a Federal-Parliamentary kind of governance, a totally new framework complete with the required constitutional changes. It must be composed of experienced top four Senators, top four Congressmen and top four Private Experts, covering not just lawyers but also experts in Economics, Organizational Structure and Management, CEO Level. This will reduce the time and cost in swiftly producing a complete government model with very little political maneuvering producing a perfect machinery of government and framework suitable for the culture of the Philippines.

At the end of the day, it will be the people who will decide in a plebiscite what is good for the country. Should this process fail because of the feared but purely speculative self-protectionist stance of our legislators, the President, with the support of the people, might do it his way, as he mentioned during the campaign, a fourth but extra-constitutional way of Chacha – a revolution by the people for the people.  Abangan! 

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The famous icon for Philippine handbags, Cora Jacob, passed away last Friday, July 29, 2016. I have several Cora Jacob bags. They are beautifully designed made out of Philippine indigenous materials and leather. Cora got her biggest break when in 1982, Princess Stephanie of Monaco, who was a buyer for Christian Dior, saw her bags at a trade show she designed for the famous fashion houses of Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior and Givenchy.  What is noble about her work is that she has a heart of gold. She empowers women in the rural areas by training them to design and make bags in order to support themselves. Thank you Tita Cora for sharing your gift and passion to our people. You are a shining star.  Her remains lie in state at Santuario de San Jose Parish Hall, Greenhills East until today (August 1).