Butch Bagabuyo  “In questions of power let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” – Jefferson, Kentucky Resolution FOR the long haul of 28 years now, the greedy elite in government and elsewhere have been cracking their coconuts not for our dear country but on how to hide their nefarious agenda of perpetuating themselves in governance and pocketing the country’s wealth at the expense of the poor Pinoys. Unless we, the poor, remain vigilant, the greedy elite might just be able to tickle the ribs of PNoy so much so that we, the poor Pinoys, might just wake up one day, God forbid, to witness the repeat of that sad and unlamented dictatorship by the late strong man, Ferdinand E. Marcos, even as I’m confident that his only son and heir-apparent, Senator Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., is opposed to a rerun of that pathetic and brutal era. But because our problems go all the way down to the very roots and not just the branches of our government, it would be the height of naiveté’ to think even for just a fleeting moment that we, the poor Pinoys and the Mindanaoans especially, would not remain perpetually shortchanged, bullied and abused in perpetuity. As I have monotonously repeated in my write-ups, it is high time we started to pick up the shovel, as a matter of speaking, dig the ground and work for the complete overhaul of our worn-out and highly elitist 1987 Constitution. Now, not later, is the best time to change our 1987 Constitution for the following incontrovertible reasons, namely:
  • Now, unlike before, we have a tough-talking yet well respected, if not truly loved leader––Davao Mayor Rodrigo “Super Digong” Duterte––who is really one of us, a Mindanaoan who spent precious time, his own money, and selfless effort propagating federalism all over the land; and,
  • The present Constitution, as well as all our previous constitutions, is not really ours, as it was framed by the chosen few, no matter how well-meaning and brilliant they may have been. The 1987 Constitution, like all our previous constitutions, is undeniably elitist.
  • •
“A good constitution is infinitely better than the best despot.” - Macaulay If an unpopular President Ferdinand E. Marcos, who at the time when his term was ending, succeeded in imposing a ruthless and violent stronghold of our country and its people for decades, where hundreds upon hundreds of our poor countrymen were either butchered without mercy or disappeared in broad day light, who can honestly say that the forces of evil now prevailing in our country would not succeed in tempting an incompetent President who is so arrogant that he adamantly refuses to listen to good counsel? I repeat, and God forbid, if such despicable curse takes place, there would be nobody else to blame but us, the poor Pinoys––those who could and ought to do something but refuse to move and act for reasons of apathy if not pure, selfishness or even misplaced arrogance. Now more than ever we, the poor thinking Pinoys, have all the avenues to slowly but surely build an unstoppable crusade for a constitutional convention simultaneously with the May 9, 2016 elections because the greedy elites and the trapos have their minds, hearts and hands on their pockets to ensure their victories and those of their dummies in government. Now, not later, or “ugma pohon,” as what happened ever since former President GMA dastardly usurped the presidency from a duly and popularly elected President Erap. As I’ve repeatedly taken up in my write-ups but without divulging “trade secrets,” here is the formula for a new order, thus:
  • Make most, if not everybody, sign a covenant to support and implement a constitutional convention and no other form of constitutional undertaking simultaneously with the May 9, 2016 elections and not later;
  • Make President Benigno Aquino III, Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Franklin Drilon and Speaker Sonny Belmonte Jr. sign a separate but the same covenant, and, should they play dirty politics on us, let’s do it anyway without them; and,
  • Assist the youth and I in convincing all the law deans, the presidents and the board of all the universities, colleges and institutes of learning starting in the City of Cagayan de Oro, Northern Mindanao, Mindanao, the Visayas and Luzon, including the autonomous regions of the Cordillera and Mindanao.
This is a first! It has never been done before yet it’s a “walk in the park,” inexpensive and viable. With you and I, as the poor’s messengers if not, servants or agents of change, the New Order in the Philippines could be a dream come true, and who knows, it might even change the world! Only with God can we win a fight for a lifetime even without the dirty money and the machinery of the Liberal Party, the UNA and all the political machinations of the trapos. As a no nonsense student of the Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence, we are giving our best shot with gusto so that we could change our way of life through the ballots only and not with “dos por dos,” I hope and pray. Tsada, di ba? (Call of text to 09188030197, e-mail to bagabuyos@yahoo.com)