Proxies and Avenues of Dissent

He ate his ice cream with a bun while I had mine in a sugar cone, Ricky, a would-be law enforcer. While I agonized over the dilemma of a choice between langka or macapuno, he asked an innocuous question, “Anong meron?” I struggled over how best to explain what last Sunday’s silent protest was for, and as best I could explained what House Resolution 1109 was about. And while I certainly tried to leave the parliamentary jargon out of my explanation, he was quick to follow what, indeed, the silent protest was for.

Stripped of the technicalities, the way he re-explained the situation was crystal. Here you have an administration, led by a tenacious president, too long in power. Here you have allegations of misdeeds comparable only to the abuses of the yet longest self-serving President Marcos. Here you have a country that has yet to exhibit any meaningful indicators of ‘kaginhawahan,’ was his term. Why, indeed, should we suffer more of the same?

His yellowish eyes were wise beyond his age. He couldn’t have been older than me. His little nephew played near the sorbetero, cocooned in blissful ignorance of our conversation, RockEd’s silent protest, and the infamy of June 2. He said he understood what government was doing, all his life having dreamt of being a law-enforcer. He followed politics when he could. Here he was at an avenue in his life where he had to make a choice of a lifetime. He had just past the exam that made a police officer but could not yet quite make the leap.

I know it would change me, he said. I already have friends in the police force. Do you know they make the newbies collect bribe money? All my life I’ve dreamed of being a policeman, to keep order, to dispense justice. But I’m not stupid, I know what goes on in a precinct. If I refuse to join in the shenanigans, I might endanger my life. But if I do, what would be left of me?

I can’t remember all that he said, but I stood there listening to him recount a slice of his life story. I understood too the agony of wanting something better for the country he would serve, and the compromise of the reality of law enforcement and his ideals. Do you know that I studied by heart a book this thick on human rights, he said. Not every cop graduates a criminologist, do you know that? They don’t know that criminals should be treated fairly as the law provides. If I do choose to become a cop, I would do good by not whacking them over the head.

While we ate our ice cream he kept glancing behind me at the silent protesters. He said he understood what we were fighting for, but why were we so silent? I explained that we all understood what we were there for and so there was no need for speeches or programs. I mentioned the big rally on Wednesday and invited him to go. He said he wasn’t much of a rallyist but he would try. And if he couldn’t make it, he asked if I could go on his behalf.

Early afternoon last Wednesday my friend Luisa texted me to offer apologies for not being able to make it to our dinner date. Her tummy wasn’t feeling so good. I’d completely forgotten of course as I was already headed for the Makati rally. She said she would too if she weren’t so sick. I offered to go on her behalf, this friend of mine with whom I witnessed Edsa Dos all those years ago.

I parked my car in the Fort because I didn’t want to be stuck in the traffic re-routing might cause. I need not have bothered of course, because the roads when I arrived and left the Makati CBD were pretty free. I took a cab from Boni High Street and asked to be dropped off at the end of McKinley. Boy, the meter was running fast. Nearing my drop-off point I quizzed the cabbie about the Makati area, whether he got stuck in traffic because of the rally. He said the roads were clear earlier in the day and asked, what rally? I briefly explained that I was going to said rally and outlined the events of June 2. The mild-mannered cabbie then exploded in a rant liberally peppered with expletives. And while he railed about the injustice of the system, of the kurakot politicians, all the same, I noticed his meter slowed.

Under a scaffolding, I sat with friends, smoked some ciggies and listened to personalities speak on the stage. I didn’t care much what Cory Aquino or Danny Lim had to say. I didn’t care for the senators who were there courting the cameras and the crowd. I didn’t care for the congresspeople who came as well, save Risa Baraquel. I didn’t need them to tell me what I already knew anyway. And so I sat, and picked out which sounds I wanted to hear from the spectacle. Curiously it was someone singing a kundiman-type song I appreciated best. The rest was ambient noise.

As we prepared to leave I was told the Stop Con-Ass Facebook group had garnered twenty-three thousand members. I thought, good.

Lighting of the Beacon NO TO CON-ASS

Architects of HR 1109

Castrated by Vacuous Argument for the sake of Vacuous Argument

Contrary to what contrarians say, citizens expressing outrage over House Resolution 1109 are the voices in the wilderness, if the small turnout of gatherings and discussions, so far, is any indication.

To take the position that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with term extensions or changing the constitution is ignoring the context of Gloria Arroyo’s past few years in power. This position ignores the broken promise of not running for re-election, the Hello Garci tapes, the desparecidos, the journalist killing sprees, the manufactured ‘People’s Initiative’ for cha-cha some years back, the ZTE-NBN scandal, the invention of ‘Executive Privilege’ over major trade agreements such as JPEPA, the fertilizer funds scandal and many others.

To ignore the context in which HR 1109 has unfolded is intellectually dishonest if done maliciously and most unfortunate if done in complete ignorance. One may argue that there is no direct correlation between the scandals of the past to any intimations of “Gloria Forever.” But politics, as all study of human behavior, is not a science. We cannot know beyond doubt whether this resolution indeed plots to keep incumbents in power indefinitely. And so all we have are indicators – that is, behavior and actions committed in the past and unfolding in the present.

We may presume that this administration should not be judged guilty before the Court of Public Opinion without, as some quarters say, “due process.” As if our public institutions, and the processes they purportedly implement, are blemish-free. As if our public institutions and the rules they enforce have been equally applied to those who govern as well as those governed. As if our public institutions have and always will work for justice and fairness and are not liable to abuse by those who monopolize them. As if our public institutions were mere conveyor belts that say after Step 1 comes Step 2 comes Step 3 then Step 4. To claim such, displays blind ignorance.

I do not know that our opposition is driven by ‘fear’ – by definition an emotional reaction to something that may cause harm or hurt. But is this fear irrational? That is, without reason? Are we afraid, for no reason, that the Specter of Gloria Forever is haunting us?

By accident of nature, humans have evolved to have large brains. We learn. In the course of evolution, we have learned, for example, that when we place our hand on a live stove, it will hurt. We do not actually need to place said hand on said stove repeatedly to know, beyond a doubt, that each time, it will burn.

Silent Protest against Conass

Turnout was small, but it has to start somewhere :-) Kudos to RockEd for organizing the silent protest.

Gloria Forever: Yeah or Nay?

Randy David frames the events of June 2, 2009 this way:

The real hurdle is how to keep the people in a docile unquestioning state until next year. This is the most difficult to manage. Arroyo’s operators will be banking on public inertia—the state of political exhaustion that comes after a series of unproductive upheavals—to keep the opposition at bay. They will pour money where the votes are—under the cover of economic stimulus—until the people come to a point where they have no strong motive to resist...

...Clearly, the election has begun, ahead of the one scheduled for 2010. And there is only one candidate—Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In this contest, no ballots will be distributed and counted. Only our voices and our feet will matter. We either protest and march, or we pray or make noise. To shut up and stay home in the face of this shameless display of political opportunism is to accept Gloria forever.

What think you?

Busina Laban sa Cha-cha!

Noise barrage after the Con-ask Forum, gate 2.5 at Ateneo. That was fun :-) WOOT!

Guess who that was wearing a white hat at 0:35.



Mga mababaw ang kaligayahan. LOL.



QCPD was just doing their job. A kindly-looking policeman asks questions and scribbles notes in his notepad.

What in the World is Going On with Conass?

If there was anything I took from the Ateneo Forum yesterday, (there wasn't anything new because the speakers' talking points are already online), it was that we need to inform ourselves and each other about what precisely is going on. If you do not understand any of the terms - there's WIKIPEDIA!

To start with, I think the Akbayan Execom statement is a lucid, easy to understand summary what HR1109 is and what is at stake.



Former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman lays down four scenarios now circulating through emails. She also mentioned these in yesterdays' forum:

Scenario 1: House of Representative (HOR) will set the rules and procedures and proceed to amend the constitution acting now as a Constituent Assembly. After a period of time they bring the amended constitution to COMELEC to request for a plebiscite. A case is brought to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court decides that a Senate less CONASS is valid. Plebiscite continues, it is a yes victory and the election of May 10, 2010 is an election for a parliamentary form of government. GMA runs on a district in Pampanga. She wins and becomes eventually the Prime Minister.This scenario assumes that the outraged and protest from the citizenry is weak.

Scenario 2: HOR convenes as a constituent assembly; a case is filed in the Supreme Court and SC declares that Congress is a bicameral body therefore the Senate is needed. Election fever catches up.A presidential election is held in May 10, 2010.This scenario assumes that there is significant citizen's lobby to stop CONASS and chahcha. The citizen's actions is a major influence in the assessment and judgement of the justices in the Supreme Court.

Scenario 3: HOR convenes as a constituent assembly, there is building outrage from the citizens and more street actions are undertaken.Malacana ng rides on the anger of the people and organizes violent incidents that will then be the basis for emergency rule. This scenario assumes that citizen's actions are not organized and disciplined which creates the conditions for infiltration and manipulated violence from the enemies of democracy.

Scenario 4: HOR convenes as a constituent assembly; a case is filed in the Supreme Court, the debate and deliberation in the Supreme Court takes a long time and it gets overtaken by election on May 10, 2010. GMA runs for Congress in Pampanga she wins, the administration candidates win too. They get the Supreme Court go ahead and convenes a Constituent Assembly, converts Congress into a parliament and GMA is elected as Prime Minister. This scenario assumes that the 2010 election is dominated by the allies of GMA and her candidates wins. This scenario assumes that transactional politics was the dominant practice and cheating, vote buying and killing will be the norm in the election of 2010. This means the citizen's action was weak and we failed to educate and mobilize active citizenship.

And here is the transcript of Father Bernas' interview with Mike Enriquez the other day. Yesterday, while he said there isn't anything to do at this point (legally that is), he said that HR1109 was really something of an "announcement" that the constitution was going to be violated. That is, it hasn't been violated yet.

Here you will find Joel Rocamora's flowchart of what could happen from now on. Also you will read what political analyst Mon Casiple has to say.

Lastly, chills went down my spine when I read Raissa Robles' take on the matter. She outlines the moves Gloria Arroyo has taken so far.

The Arroyo administration rushed to bring home former police Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II. He is scheduled to arrive in the Philippines Thursday morning. The haste to resolve a nine-year old double murder case seems inexplicable.

One possible explanation: Mancao will blame the deposed president Joseph Estrada and his key aide, Senator Panfilo Lacson.

When this happens, government will file a murder case against Estrada and order his arrest. Given Estrada's popularity, he and his followers could resist this. Remember that in 2001, when the deposed president was arrested for plunder, his followers mounted a bloody assault on Malacañang Palace.

A similar incident now could be an ostensible reason for Mrs. Arroyo to declare a state of emergency or martial rule. During that period, Congress (which is mostly in Mrs. Arroyo's pocket), would not be abolished. In fact, because it had already conveniently declared itself a constituent assembly, it could be used to propose amendments ostensibly to remedy the emergency. It would see the creation of a new order.

As for the military trying to assert its role to protect and defend the Constitution, last May a changing of the guards took place. Armed Forces Chief of Staff Alexander Yano retired prematurely and gave way to his classmate, Lieutenant General Victor Ibrado. More significantly, Arroyo's most trusted general, Delfin Bangit, became head of the biggest bulk of the military, the 70,000-strong Army.

And when Ibrado retires early next year or even this year, Bangit, the former head of the Presidential Security Group, is widely expected to assume the top post. It's the closest thing to Marcos' General Fabian Ver.

It has been five years since the Hello Garci tapes came out. Some of you may have been too young to understand what was happening then. But in the last five years we have let slip far too many scandals, their stink tracing back all the way to Malacanang. Some may say we are needlessly sowing fear. But surely, it is better to err on the side of caution.

This administration has been daring, encouraged by the lack of push back from the citizenry. The coming days and weeks there will be calls for rallies from various sectors and various fora will be held. Go with your friends and listen to what people have to say.

Bloggers on Conass

Alterted by Manolo, and further prodded by Nick of Filipino Voices, I went to Bastusang Pambasa yesterday to tweetcast what was a sorry excuse for deliberations on House Resolution 1109. See also @mlq3's tweetcast here. Pages in the session hall are usually snooty, but I thank the cosmos a kindly one passed by when I needed to plug my computer in one of the two power outlets that can be accessed from the gallery. To this unnamed page, my many thanks.

My liveblog on Filipino Voices can be read here. Manolo and Mon Casiple lay the political landscape vis-a-vis conass. Filipino Voices contributors Cocoy and Marocharim have also said their piece. FV welcomes new contributor Rep. Ruffy Biazon. He writes:

The passage of House Resolution 1109 proposing to amend the Constitution is another blow to the already tarnished reputation of the House of Represenatives. It is appalling that the leadership ignored the sentiments of the people which reject moves to amend the constitution at this time. It gives the House the image that it is callous to public opinion and will only give due attention to matters that pertain to its members’ personal and political agenda.

Ceci publishes the Akbayan Executive Committee statement on the resolution here. Notable in the statement:

Under conditions of legality, if the Supreme Court does what it is supposed to do, it should be easy to stop HR1109. Because Gloria has a long record of illegal moves, in the end, Gloria’s chacha can only be stopped politically.

Jericho asks, "Should we allow ourselves to be conned by these asses?" Indeed. Bikoy recounts how security made it difficult for some to enter the session hall last night, even going so far as to say the session was over when they weren't. Ms. Dado calls on all to oppose cha-cha and lists all signatories of HR1109 here.

From the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines:

SCAP...reminds solons that young people will not hesitate to go out in the streets again to show their indignation of this government’s outright mockery of our country’s democratic institutions and processes.

Dona Victorina gives Adel Tamano blog space. Tamano claims GMA forces in the lower house ultimately want to remove the Senate from the picture. Given their performance on the Hayden Kho scandals and now investigating jewelry scams on socialites, Senate seems to have its collective head up its ass. But Senator Gordon assures us Senate will not allow unicameral action on cha-cha.

Snow World also does a roundup of what happened yesterday. MavEqualizer believes Gloria Arroyo wants to stay on as Prime Minister. Eric says last night was a preview of how Congress will act in a unicameral setting.

From Assembly, the Ateneo political science org:

THE ASSEMBLY standing firmly as an organization in support of a democracy as the rule of the people, grounded upon the Christian value of preferential option for the poor, VEHEMENTLY REJECTS the junking of the land reform bill and the persistent efforts of Arroyo’s allies to change the constitution. The subsequent moves of the House of Representatives, first in the shifting of gears in its legislative action from CARPER towards Cha-Cha, then to the subsequent silencing of mainstream media, employing its capitalist properties to alter the dynamism of our political atmosphere all constitute a violation of authentic community-building and are an affront to human dignity.

For THE ASSEMBLY, however, the issue is not just about the legality or constitutionality of what has happened today. What has happened today is another manifestation of the crisis of the country’s liberal democratic institutions. In fact, the very reality that members of Congress can easily dispose of the people’s agenda in exchange for their own vested interests highlights precisely the problem with the structure of liberal democratic politics – the narrow and highly restricted notion of what constitutes public interest.

This move for charter change proposes a notion of finality in political citizenship by claiming that a change in the constitution will finally resolve issues of injustice. It does not only deepens the chasm between man and his community, but also leaves him docile, acquainted to this solitary polity, creating a majority that is fundamentally fragmented yet legally represented by a House that claims sovereignty from a ghastly constituency.

Politics is a facet of humanity that belongs to the people, not to the institutions that govern them.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

A migrant worker in Hongkong, Jon Mariano wonders what ordinary citizens can do, if they care at all. Sonny Melencio proposes to blockade the House and to not allow member to convene during Sona in July. I sort of like this idea. Like a sit-in. Wexistence remembers Rizal, "This is what Jose Rizal meant when he said an immoral government is matched by a people without morals; an administration without conscience, by grasping and slavish townsmen."

Ivy Eclairs declares an end to apathy and Dementia vehemently says no to it. Woot! TatayK has a cool anti-chacha poster of Concerned Artists of the Philippines. The Mindanao Examiner on anti-chacha mobilizations in Mindanao.

Arnold Padilla says what happened last night was a scandal far worse than Hayden Kho videos. Siyetehan credits Hayden for lack of media coverage last night. Alex Maximo also laments the sad state of coverage.

Samjuan implores us:

Sabi na nga ba masamang pangitain ang paghahain ng mga kaguluhan hinggil sa hayden camera scandals na kumalat sa inarnets eh. Ayan ayan, kaninang madaling araw dito, kagabi sa Pinas, gumuho ang natitirang mga pundasyon ng paguho nang demokrasya ng PIlipinas- Inaprubahan ng walanjong Kongreso ang Con-Ass (Constitutional Assembly). Wooh. Nakakakulot to ng buhok sa kili-kili pramis.

Sana may gawin ang mga tao ditto. Sana naman mabawasan yung mag nagsasabi na pagod na sila sa pulitika, sa rallies, sa pagrereklamo, sa pakikialam sa bayan kahit na wala pa naman silang nagagawang alinman sa mga nabanggit na hakbang ever. Sana di pa lamunin ng lupa ang Pinas. Uuwi pa ako. Anakngteteng umayos ka nga Philippine Government!

Iamstaying alive is not a little mad:

Pakingshet naman tong mga kongresistang to eh ginagawa tayong tanga! Hindi kailangan ng mataas na pinagaralan para malamang ang pagmamadali nilang maging pinal ang House Resolution 11-09 ay may nakapaloob na motibong palawigin ang termino ng pakingshet nating presidente!

Jobarclix announces Rocked's mobilization on Sunday, June 7 at Baywalk.

Meanwhile, I am scratching my head over Arman Gavino's proposed solution to this crisis. Superficialistics fears a return of martial law.

Splice makes his feelings for member of the House explicit. Maybe a little too explicit, lol:

For this inspired madness that will go down in history as one of the worst kinds of legislative proceedings, I salute those behind HR 1109 with both middle fingers, one up the nether region of their body where the sun never shines, and another just in case the hole is too wide for one.

Edicio discloses his literally murderous thoughts about what happend in Congress last night. Rhona Tolentino usually blogs about everyday stuff, like crushes, but today she could not contain being affected.

Hansley Juliano posts tomorrow's forum on HR 1109 in the Ateneo.

CON ASK: A Forum on HR 1109 Possibilities & Challenges on June 04, 2009 (Thursday), 4:00-5:30 pm. at the Colayco Pavillion, MVP Student Leadership Center, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

The forum’s main speaker will be former Ateneo Law School Dean and constitutional law expert Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J.

The forum will be followed through by a noise barrage to express our indignation on HR 1109 at Gate 2.5 of the Ateneo de Manila campus from 5:30-7:00 pm.

For more information about this forum, you may call us at 426-6001 local 4644 and look for Michelle Avelino.

You can get No to Conass badges at Alleba Politics. And La Nueva Liga Filipina on how to hold virtual protests.