CON-ASS IS A CON

Victorina’s guest writer, Atty. Adel A. Tamano is the current president of the Pamantasan ng Lunsod ng Maynila. He went to the Ateneo and graduated A.B. Economics. Thereafter, he attended the University of the Philippines and took a masters degree in Public Administration. In June 2005, he matriculated in Harvard Law School's Master of Laws graduate program.

Today, in the Good Times Radio show, Adel announced that he has formally joined the Nationalista Party. The council of Victorina welcomes this fast rising star in the political arena!

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by Atty Adel Tamano

CON. This word perfectly describes the actions of Team-GMA Congressmen who approved House Resolution 1109 at 11:20 P.M. last night. Let’s not get too mired in the legalese and the parliamentary maneuverings; essentially, the aim of Team-GMA congressmen in approving Resolution 1109 is to take the Senate out of the equation in changing the Philippine Constitution, which is absurd because even renaming a road would require the participation of the Senate. Team-GMA knows that they can never get the ¾ vote from the Senate to be able to change the Constitution, via a Constituent Assembly, because Team-GMA does not control the Senate like it does the Congress.

So why is it a mere con? Well because, as in any con or scam, the object is to deceive and divert attention in order to get the real prize: HOLDING ON TO POWER BEYOND 2010. Team-GMA understands that there is not enough time to amend the Constitution with elections happening in less than a year. So the object is NOT to alter the Constitution before 2010 but rather to LAY DOWN THE BASIS for amending the Constitution AFTER the 2010 elections. All Team-GMA needs now is for someone – maybe one of its minions or some well-intentioned individual who wants to stop the Congressional Cha-Cha train – to go to the Supreme Court and get a favorable ruling that says that Resolution 1109 is valid and that the Senate does not have to participate as long as ¾ths of the Congress vote to constitute itself into a constituent assembly.

See, Team-GMA has pretty much given up on winning the national seats, President, Vice-President, and Senators, but they still have a good chance in winning the local congressional seats. So they are willing to lose – what the layman might think are the more important positions such as President, Vice-President, etc. – as long as they have enough Congressmen to amend the Constitution.

So in July 2010, we will have a different President, perhaps an opposition President and new Senators. However, since Team-GMA still controls Congress, then all Team-GMA has to do is to have Congress constitute itself into a Constituent Assembly and propose changing our system of government from Presidential to Parliamentary. Now if the people approve this revision in a plebiscite, maybe a rigged one, then it is Team-GMA back at the helm. So while all of us are so focused on the 2010 elections, Team-GMA is looking beyond that.

Maybe you can dismiss all of this as conspiracy theory or an over-active imagination but nearly four decades ago Filipinos were caught off-guard when Martial Law was declared and the 1973 Constitution was approved in so-called “people’s assemblies,” which laid the groundwork for Marcos’ twenty year rule. So I’d much rather be overcautious than be caught off guard. Eternal vigilance is indeed the price of democracy, particularly when dealing with Team-GMA.