Kiss my "Con-Ass"....

I'm for charter change.

There, I said it.

More than a year ago I made a post stating my personal reasons why I think amending or revising our Constitution could actually be a good idea. Even up to the present, I still think charter change could do the Philippines as a whole a lot of good.

But not this way.

A couple of days ago the House of Representatives approved Resolution No. 197 (formerly Resolution No. 1450) which convenes Congress into an Constitutional Assemly ("Con-Ass") for the purpose of introducing Constitutional amendments or revisions.

And it did the same without the concurrence of the Senate, in blatant disregard of the bicameral nature of our legislature as provided for in the 1987 Constitution.

Congress was able to do this through sheer force of numbers. The vast majority of incumbent members of the House of Representatives are allied with the administration, enabling them to approve Resolution No. 197, railroading any opposition in their way.

This is democracy?

The essence of democracy is based on the premise the power ultimately resides in the people, and that the will of the majority takes precedence over the minority.

But what if the majority is supporting a totally illegal, unconstitutional, unethical, immoral act? Does the possession of majority support automatically convert something wrong into something right?

And besides, are the administration members of the House of Representatives representing the views of their constituents, or are they representing their own interests? We all know the answer to that now, do we?

This is nothing more than a clear-cut case of tyranny of the majority.

In my humble opinion, just because something is supported by the majority, it doesn't necessarily make something right. More so in this specific instance, as we see Congressmen with term limits resorting to underhanded techniques just for the sole purpose of prolonging their terms of office, again in utter disregard of the term limits imposed by the 1987 Constitution.

I find it utterly nauseating, the way politicians whimsically violate the rules, twisting everything around to make them appear as heroes, when it is nothing more but their own ambitions driving them.

Alas, that is how we Filipinos play politics. We play by the rules whenever they suit our purposes. When they don't, we change the rules.

In effect, it doesn't really matter what kind of government our country has, whether presidential, parliamentary, federal, etc. As long as we Filipinos lack the political maturity to play by the rules, we are not much different from spoiled children who throw tantrums (tantra?) just because we don't get something we want.

If there's ever a time for the people to speak out, I don't think there's any time more appropriate than now.

Just imagine, the root of this country's divisiveness has emanated from a Chief Executive whose credibility has taken a serious beating ever since doubts have been raised on whether she won the election fair and square. And now, her cohorts in the House want in on the action, discarding all the rules like spent rags in pursuit of perpetuating their grasp on power, all in the guise of amending our fundamental law, allegedly "for the good of the country".

For the good of the country my a**.

It all feels so strangely familiar.

You know what they say, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

And whether we realize or not, we're on the verge of being fooled for the second time.

I feel sorry for this country.

I even feel more sorry for my child, for living in a society bereft of integrity, morality and ethics.