Not yet time again? Oh no!!!

Not yet time again?..Oh no!!!

One morning just before the 2010 presidential elections, I was invited to talk with some Philstar bosses and another columnist.

The other columnist said we must consider all out support for him. I was invited because I was the chief advocate for constitutional change. So would I consider it, ie believe that Aquino would indeed support something so badly needed by the Philippines. The other columnist was saying that what hinders the advocacy is if we wait for end of term like Arroyo and Ramos did. This time Aquino would go for Constitutional change at the beginning of his term.

Noynoy Aquino did become president. I waited for the announcement of what we had talked about when he was campaigning for support. We did get the answer just as predicted by the other columnist at the beginning of his term. Here were President Aquino words “amending the Constitution was not among the priorities of his administration.” Liar but many were taken by his pretensions of honesty and good will. “It is not yet prime time for it” he said despite the mounting calls to change at least even just the economic provisions.

“It is not yet prime time” he said. I don’t know what he meant by “prime time” – a television show or real life needs of our people. He does not understand and worse, it was the Constitution of his mother in the aftermath of the Edsa people power revolution.

Enrile and Belmonte, Senate president and speaker of the House respectively, meanwhile made some noises on how to discuss the issue for a “harmonized approach to introducing amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution.” They stressed the reforms would be only that and it could be made by a simple act of legislation. Nothing more. I challenged Enrile by asking him for a deadline. He said “before Christmas of that year.” But Christmas came and went, – still nothing – until time dragged on to the end of his term.

Belmonte said Enrile shared the view that voting on the measure to introduce amendments to the Constitution should be done separately by the two legislative chambers.

Some of the congressmen said constitutional amendment on the economic provisions will bring in the much needed investments. Why should they invest in the Philippines, a country with barriers on foreign investments in its Constitution?

 There were other ways of regulatory measures for business whether local or foreign. It can be done by ordinary laws but not putting it in the Constitution. Business and investments should be judged on how well they serve the country – running them well, giving jobs, paying taxes etc etc. Did you think anybody cared, certainly not President Aquino who would not understand.

As for me I have been in this advocacy for several administrations now. It was not an issue of small economic details. It needed wholesale revamp that would alter our politics and society.

A researcher from the Ateneo came to my house to interview me. He asked why the Cory Constitution was almost unanimously approved and now blocked on many sides as if the people and vested interests were one and the same. And where are the people? I said, “yes, I am beginning to think that, too. We either change our Constitution or have a revolution.”

The reasons were staring before our eyes. The overarching problem was about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Moreover there was a disappearing middle class.

 Then President Digong came along to say just that. He, understood what was happening. The word “oligarchy became familiar again.” This time we did not have to depend only on mainstream media who would not think of change in which they will lose their domination.

But there was something new that altered the imbalance – we now have social media. We can start small but it has the potential to reach as many as those who use computers which is said to be one third of the population. It would be the Philippine style of Iceland’s crowdsourcing which was successful in putting their political oligarchs in place. Computers when used for social media can spread like wildfire.

Happily Duterte, the new leader was for constitutional change, not just bits of it but a wholesale change that would ultimately change our philosophy and way of life.

Hindi bali na ang nagmumura, hindi naman nagnanakaw.

I don’t know how President Duterte will follow up his promise of a new society. What is his time table? Because of my experience in past governments, I thought despite a new kind of leader, it is too early to predict. If as the newspapers said they will begin discussing it in Congress this December (a later story said it will be in January) I am less hopeful as I was when the masses came in droves to Luneta on May 7 and the contrast with the sparse crowds which attended those who want to put down Duterte.

He has made correct moves to declare our independence in foreign policy. In my opinion we need a strongman with balls to assert our independence. That I think is the reason why he chose the war on drugs as his priority. It is not a matter of saying pious words but wrestling with the bull’s horns. He either kills me or I kill him. Sometimes he is hampered by a lack of civilized language. But there were those who understood that good values have less to do with fine language than they are with sincerity, honesty and the determination for change.

How does he do that? He is already doing it. His courage amidst criticisms is indomitable but without the proper structure to help him bring about Constitutional Change short of a bloody revolution, he too will fail. The same corrupt men and women who play games with drug lords cannot expected to change the Constitution for a more humane society. This is asking for the moon. We may not want a bloody revolution but it will be inevitable unless change, substantial change happens now. It won’t happen with Congress dolts who pocket the people’s money discussing whether it should be a convention or an assembly, a parliamentary or presidential, federal or Unitarian.  If that is how it would be then it is yakity yakity yak.

What we need is a government with revolutionary powers with the courage of President Duterte in the lead to see it through. There are many scholars or so-called experts who can help write the new Constitution. But they do not have the humanity of a president willing to die to accomplish his job of changing this country. We need the million-strong crowd to gather once again. We already know what we want – parliamentary federal government.  Let’s vote on it.