There’s no better time to show how Filipinos value their hard-earned freedom.
Two days before the 111th celebration of Philippine Independence, the nation convenes for another freedom fight — a rally to signify their protest against the constituent assembly of the House of Representatives.
The passing of House Resolution No. 1109, which empowers the House of Representatives to call a constituent assembly (Con-Ass) to amend the Constitution without the Senate, is clearly a violation of the original objectives by which the 1987 Constitution was made.
The preamble of the 1987 Constitution reads: “We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.”
Enacted during President Corazon Aquino’s term, the Philippine Constitution was made under the issuance of Proclamation No. 3 — “declaring a national policy to implement the reforms mandated by the people, protecting their basic rights, adopting a provisional constitution, and providing for an orderly translation to a government under a new constitution.”
The 1987 Constitution is a product of blood, sweat and tears, undergoing much heated debates before its completion and ratification through a plebiscite.
The current outrage is, therefore, inevitable. Even business groups have expressed their disagreement in a joint statement saying, that they “are appalled at the indecency and blatant disregard of the Filipino people’s will displayed by the House of Representatives in its adoption of House Resolution No. 1109.”
The Constitution is the very core of our identity, the beacon of our independence as a nation. Our by-laws should exist for the people and by the people. For a country who has gone through more than 300 years of foreign conquest, 20 years of a dictatorship and an impeached president, it is our responsibility to remain vigilant in protecting our rights and securing our democracy. (AJ Press)
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( Published on June 10, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A7 )
