CON-ASS
Just this morning(July 4), I was in a forum hosted by the ACL and my beloved university of new buildings and millions worth of chapel (beautiful =)), HAU. It was a very timely forum and the different sectors of the society are well represented. Among the guests were Among Ed Panlilio, Archbishop Paciano Aniceto, representatives of active organizations and companies were there to listen to the resource speaker, Father Joaquin Bernas of the Ateneo Law School. This was the forum I have attended so far in our SFJ Theater after Atty. Villanueva’s lecture on Good Corporate Governance. Atty. Vilanueva happens to be the dean of the Ateneo Law School and the husband of our respected university president, Dr. Arlyn Villanueva.
To introduce to you who the resource speaker is, permit me to borrow lines from the wikipedia. Verbatim!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquin_G._Bernas
Bernas earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, Latin, and Greek Classics and a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Berchmans College in 1956 and 1957 respectively. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws from Ateneo Law School in 1962 and placed 9th in the bar examinations of that year.
Bernas earned degrees in Licentiate of Sacred Theology from Woodstock College in 1966, Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science from New York University in 1965 and 1968 respectively.
Bernas served as Dean of Ateneo Law School, President of Ateneo de Manila University from 1984 to 1993, a Member of the Constitutional Commission formed by President Corazon Aquino in 1986, a Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines, and a Director of the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Upon his retirement as Law Dean in 2004, Bernas was conferred the position of Dean Emeritus at Ateneo School of Law. He continues to teach Constitutional Law and Public International Law to law freshmen and sophomores.
Forgive me for not removing the hyperlinks. haha!
Although I am not a constitution geek, I still am a citizen of this country making me a natural steward of it. The responsibility to take necessary actions to protect this country and its people even in ways a student like me can. And it bothers me seeing my fellow youth with no much visible concern for the welfare of our country. I wanted to drag them into the forum, make them sit still and listen, hoping they might get a gist of what our congres is up to. Even some of my classmates I believe I have convinced to come the day before did not come. Nanghinayang ako na hindi nila narinig ang mga bagay na narinig ko. Sayang.
….
This is my unfinished reaction paper. Though I was not required to make one, I started to write this down after the forum… I only have the intro
Because of the heightened alerts responded by social groups, organizations and responsive citizens, the CON-ASS issue has been well circulated via internet, text messages, media and through other means, expressive of how these people are against the assembly but leaving much of the Filipino citizens uneducated on the details of the constituent assembly and the purpose it shall serve, sphere of jurisdiction and its direct effects to us are.
Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas said in his talk that the congress, by itself, is a constituent assembly. And therefore, the attempt of the House of Representatives to create a constituent assembly is not, anymore, constitutionally necessary. This left a thought, or rather, a bothering question to a citizen like me under the government of this country run by these people; such a question jokingly raised, too, by Father Bernas himself — Aren’t they virtuoso on our Philippine Constitution? Or, shouldn’t they have carefully examined and consulted first our constitution before taking any step further in their aim of drafting or revising our country’s constitution? Their credibility to amend the constitution is greatly influenced by their lack of constitutional expertise.
We should be alarmed. These are the people we placed in position. And these are the same few to whom we have entrusted the governance of the Philippines as a nation. Hence, this makes the 2010 Elections a critical point. A make or break stand of the Philippines. As Fr. Bernas addressed, it is through the country’s judgment reflected by the votes that will determine the kind of governance there will be in this country, assuming not a “failure of elections”: it is a call to register and vote. Because whether we like or not, this is the most feasible option there is for citizens like us holding no government influence to penetrate the government structure and probably, finally elect deserving individuals who will do their work and not just critic others’.
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