Our embattled President

Yesterday I received a phone call from CNN International. I asked them to email their questions. The interview would be about President Duterte’s threat to call for martial law and his crackdown on drug trafficking suspects.

It was obvious that the CNN interview could be used to put down our embattled President. Western media and their local allies decide what is “good” for the Philippines.

But with the election of an unknown underdog – “Digong Duterte” it will not be easy.  Filipinos are fighting a second war of independence by voting for him. He alone among the candidates campaigned for change – real change – even if it means upsetting the order and structure of oligarchic society.

It is the elite in tandem with their Western counterparts who want to pull him down. That to me is the meaning of the question – Would you rather I declare martial law?

Once again it is the powerful against the powerless with Duterte leading the powerless with more than 16.6  million votes in the last election. Duterte made the remarks after Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno wrote him a letter defending seven judges that Duterte named in his list of alleged coddlers of drug dealers.

Sereno told the judges not to surrender to law enforcers unless there were warrants for their arrest.

“Ikaw ang kingpin sa judiciary.

“Yan ang mabigat na problema ko... Hindi ako gago. If this continues, pigilan mo ako, o di sige... Or would you rather that I declare martial law?” he added.

Duterte said many have suffered because of the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.

“Pinapatay ang mga Pilipino. I grieve for the so many women raped, men killed, infants raped, tapos iipitin mo ako? I have to clean,” Duterte said.

Duterte also raised the possibility of ordering members of the executive branch to ignore the orders of the judiciary.

“Do not create a crisis because I will order everyone in the Executive Department not to honor you,” Duterte said.

“To safeguard the role of the judges as the protectors of constitutional rights, I would caution them very strongly against ‘surrendering’ or making themselves physically accountable to any police officer in the absence of any duly-issued warrant of arrest that is pending,” Sereno answered Duterte.

The President argued that issuing warrants of arrest to all drug personalities would be next to impossible given the inefficiencies in the justice system.

“Pag dumating ang panahon, we go to a crossroads. You decide. Di ako sunod diyan and please, please, please, please, do not create a confrontation, a constitutional war. Talo tayo lahat,” he added.

Messrs. CNN what he meant by his words about martial law should be asked of the elite instead. He was being provoked by the enemies of reform. It is their refusal to cooperate with Duterte’s constitutional change that will bring martial law.

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I have turned down several invitations to discuss what they call constitutional reform. Some of these discussions are being used to mislead citizens that these will bring agreement and change. Sorry, but that will only happen through a referendum. We cannot eliminate division in a democratic society. With Duterte as president it is time to move into action.

Now that we have a President Duterte  for a parliamentary federal government he has raised our hopes. We must help him sustain this rare opportunity.  That is the reason for attempts to destroy or weaken him.

Let us stop using the term constitutional reform. What we need is a new constitution to change the mindset that developed in colonial times of a few rich and the many poor. We waited for someone who will have the courage to confront the enemies of the state. That was Duterte. And his program is a total revamp of the system through a new constitution .

The presidential system with the six-year fixed term has been described as too long for a bad president and too short for a good one.

Former President Aquino’s flawed and failed presidency is a good example of the consequences of keeping the presidential unitary form of government.

If the elite persist in blocking Duterte’s reforms she must be blamed for the consequences. We could have a constitutional crisis. The military under the Duterte government will have no choice.

This is embodied in Article II, on statement of principles Section 4. “Civilian authority is supreme over the military for all time. The Armed Forces shall secure the sovereignty of the State and the integrity of the national territory.” The country is in danger of keeling over with the evil politics developed through presidential unitary system imposed by American colonialists.

Miraculously a small town mayor, Duterte finally put his hat in the ring and won to speak for all of us. We have had enough. The presidential unitary form of government is wrong for us.

If the military were not monitoring the situation closely, they would be remiss in their constitutional mandate. We need a strong government to achieve revolutionary change instead of piecemeal and  unresolved debates.

By the state we mean not only the government but all its elements – the nation, the people as well as the bureaucracy and the economy. It must be an interim government with revolutionary powers. Only then can we have a new constitution. That would take time.  The criminal offenders in drug dealing and graft will still be around to frustrate the Duterte program of reform.

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In the past we were happy debating whether a constitutional convention or constitutional assembly of politicians to draft the Constitution. This was the top down Constitution the masses hardly understood.

The process should be reversed to bottom up constitution-making so that by the time we have a referendum the masses would have in their own way understood what they were voting for. Just as they did when they voted overwhelmingly for Duterte.

That is what the BayanKo.org.ph has done by crowdsourcing – getting as many people to give opinions and suggestions on what they think a new Constitution should be and why. The people become the true authors of the Constitution and not mere tools of the oligarchy. The process would put both the rich and poor together on more equal terms to create a document that would bind the nation together.  Only then should we bring in a panel of experts ( without politicians or oligarchs}  to do the drafting.

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This is the way to go – use technology for more inclusive politics.

With social media and online organizing it will also lower the barriers of entry into the political process for those who feel excluded or ignored.