Throwing a party for no reason and inviting only the host
By Makati Rep. Teodoro L. Locsin Jr.
BECAUSE this is just a resolution, the House will vote by mere yells of yeas and nays. In the tumult, the public and the press may mistake who voted for and against it. Make no mistake RONNIE ZAMORA AND I are voting NO because we have kept our wits about us unlike the others who have lost all of theirs. For this resolution convenes only the Lower House of Congress as a constituent assembly to “consider,” as the Constitution puts it, constitutional amendments that no one has proposed, do not exist, and therefore cannot be considered.
This strictly House only resolution is like sending out an invitation to a party to which the host has invited only himself.
This is also like sending out an invitation to a party on no definite date for no stated occasion other than the host throwing a party for himself by himself. On top of which, the host—Rep. Luis Villafuerte—has cancelled the party and withdrawn the invitation though some—how shall we call them?—housebreakers, I suppose—have decided to go on with the party.
This is a resolution calling for the convening of the Lower House of Congress as a constituent assembly the day before it adjourns. This is like sending out an invitation to a party on no date, for no stated occasion, while announcing that the host is leaving for a long vacation abroad.
It is said that this invitation to a party inviting only the host is intended to provoke a reaction from those not invited.
Whoever came up with this idea of a party has no idea about throwing a party except what he might have learned from the videos of the parties that Hayden Kho threw where he was both host and sole party animal except for his unwitting partner. But Hayden Kho had an excuse. He was drugged. The question is under what kind of influence is this kind of party being thrown? In other words, nag-e-Ecstasy ba ang mga proponents of this House resolution and why are not they not sharing the joy?
It is said that we must do this because, unless we throw a party for no reason inviting only ourselves, we will never know for sure if such a party can be thrown?
But how will we know? We are sure to be ignored by those we did not invite even as we will be ignored by the social arbiter to which we are appealing on this score.
I submit that the Supreme Court and the country as a whole will ignore us—and then laugh at us all the way to the ignominious end of the 14th Congress. We shall be ignored as surely as we shall be laughed at.
For this is a resolution calling upon the members of Congress but naming only the members of the House to convene constituently for no stated purpose. And yet the Constitution specifies that Congress may convene as a constituent assembly only for the purpose of considering—considering—not introducing let alone just awaiting—proposals to amend or revise the Constitution upon a vote of 3/4 of all the members of Congress. This resolution puts the cart before the horse because, there being no amendments to consider, there is no purpose to convene Congress as a constituent assembly.
It is a blatant lie that this resolution reflected upon its introduction to the floor of the House a consensus of the House of a need to amend the Constitution because, aside from the Speaker of the House who filed his amendment to the economic provisions as a regular bill, no one has expressed any desire to change the Constitution or expressly specified in what particular respect.
As for the lawyers among us who say they want to litigate this question, they will be provoking the Supreme Court to render what it cannot and will not—to wit, an opinion in no concrete case and controversy. These lawyer-legislator should tread carefully for the Court is liable to strip them of their license for trifling with the Court and the processes of justice.
This resolution mocks the House and holds it up to ridicule. If anything, it is a fit subject not of a vote but an ethics investigation of the proponents of this measure for inviting the contempt of the nation upon our House.
This is a venture which can be described by only one word that politeness forbids me to say.
This resolution is nothing but a trial balloon for the Administration and its lackeys to gauge the public's reaction.
If the reaction is lukewarm at best then they will go on to the next stage but if the reaction is outrage, then they will pull back and rethink the whole exercise. But they are not going to give up, not by a longshot.
We have a house of puppets in the lower house, striving to fulfill the dreams of an illegitimate and fake president, driven by money and self interest. We should never allow this rape of our constitution by these boneless and evil creatures in the lower house. We must be vigilant against the cynical moves of these legislators and the palace. Many people think that the laundrywoman in the palace, who thinks she is the leader of the nation (a pseudo president) is the worst president in the history of this country, if not the world. She is an ideal of what a leader should not posses, for she is possessed by evil aura.
It was great reading,
because the 'party' metaphor is funny and in a way describes the situation.
Cynical humor might be the only reaction to these downright immoral to the point of illegal ongoings, the only reaction that doesn't hurt psychologically. But let me put it straight: I'm not a Philippine citizen, but if the author doesn't lie, we're talking about illegal ways of trying to remain in power of a regime that has proven more than once that this is precisely it's main concern.
But that's not funny. That's not even a bit funny.
I know we germans are not known for descending to the streets for minor political issues immediately (like our french neighbours for example setting cars on fire just for the visual effect), and it's not because we're phlegmatic, but we have a huge trust in our institutions so people think they don't have to react violently all too quickly. There might be some pol. fatigue in Germany as well, but I'm not so sure the Philippine People can afford this trust in political institutions let alone fatigue!
Considering what is at stake in my beloved Philippines, I will cut this comment short here, to avoid mentioning what IS in fact the right and more appropriate serious reaction to this criminal case, lest I be labelled 'foreign troublemaker' or even humourless german who thinks some things just can't be taken lightly no matter how hard one tries.
...and why can't the author use the word "crime" in decent society? :)
Nils Sens from Berlin
How appropriate a name Con-Ass, it sure fits like a glove! let's start with ass; the ancestor of the donkey; a stupid obstinate perverse person - compounded with a preceding adjective often considered vulgar! e.g. dumb ass!
Con; (by shortening) convict; something used deceptively to gain another's confidence: SWINDLE
and oh in the US of A, Texans call rednecks of Louisiana coonass and is usually taken to be very offensive.
hence our honourables in the House picked a very politically correct name for themselves! and for once i just couldn't disagree!
Aaaah… con asses in the lower house, and con artist in malacanang!
It’s good that lakas kampi merged together for the con ass party. It will be easy for us voters to identify and kick their asses come 2010 election.
Rep. Villafuerte voted YES. So that makes him part of the party. And at some point, he is still the host.
politicians have lost their a** so they want to pursue con a** on any way they think. i'm very disappointed on actions. wth that we electing these people. they have lost their sense of decency. are they are supposedly the so-called honorable. shame on you politicians. more shame on the people that elected these so-called honorable guys.
PEACE!!!!
Nognog Nograles was installed Speaker
of the House only for the purpose of supporting a constituent assembly. The Palace had to get rid of De Venecia and they succeeded. That's step one (1) of the stupid idea. Now we are in step two (2) of the plan and seems like the Palace
& its allies are met with a very strong wrath & resistance from the populace.
Checkmate, there's no way to proceed & now congresmen who said "YES" to a constituent assembly are now beginning to jump ship, peddling every lies that they
never supported the plan.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. We have a nognog in the
driver seat and what do we expect?
CATASTROPHE!
BASAHIN NINYO MUNA KUNG ANO ANG CON ASS
half the people here saying NO TO CON-ASS dont even know what it does what it isall they know is that it's "BAD"...why is it bad? cuz the TV SAID SO, CUZ PEOPLE ARE RALLYING AND THEYRE ALL MAD AND YELLING....that LADIES AND GENTS is what you call ****PROPAGANDA****(((((DEFINITION of PROPAGANDA: 1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. )))...so here let me shed some light on you guys as to WHAT CON-ASS Really IS
http://jlp-law.com/blog/house-resolution-1109-re-constitutional-amendment-or-revision/
most of you are saying NO CON ASS cuz it will prolong Gloria's reign as president but in CLEAR LETTERS it completely says the opposite. So give me another argument as to why NO TO CON ASS and dont tell me cuz Gloria and his Tao-han will prolong their reign in the Cabinet.
dont accuse me of having some congress dude relative cuz i for sure can tell you ....i dont.
just so disturbing that this resolution was railroaded, and this is happening at the forefront of the government...gone was the phrase "hidden motives" but on with baring all.
Is there a list somewhere of the congressmen who voted yes for resolution 1109? that way, we can check who should not be elected again.
I think this is democracy at work. Stop being a country of paranoids!
Grabe, this gloria aleporeses, why change the constitution, why con-ass?, whats the real purpose? An ordinary citizen like me expect responsible performance from these representatives, changing the constitution is none them. And if ever there's a need to change the constituion it should be done by an elected con-con delegates, not you congressmen. Non of us trust you. My message to those who voted the con-ass, GO TO HELL !!!!! AND DONT FORGET TO BRING WITH YOU THE "EVIL BITCH" gloria macapagal arroyo!!!!!
I have no problems about one gentleman's opinion that the con-ass, as feared by many, says exactly the opposite in CLEAR LETTERS. That is his opinion and I respect his right to say how he personally feels about it.
As I see it however, it is not so much if the intentions behind con-ass are good or bad. What really matters is that the present administration (if one would really call it that) had lost any and all credibility for as far as new initiatives shoved into the minds of the sophisticated few and the simple majority are concerned. Meaning, anything spewed out of the craters of Malacanang are summarily perceived as something evil and self-serving for the powers that are.
and are consequently shunned outright by the people and are viewed as another "roller-coaster" in the making and would ultimately be a catastrophe waiting to happen.
The Malacanang tenant and her cabal had shouted "WOLF" for so many times to the detriment of the people. Now nobody listens nor believes them anymore. In the eyes of the people, the present regime had become irrelevant and extinct. If at all possible, all they want is to thrash the present regime and be replaced with a whole new set of leaders if only to restore integrity, decency, dignity, and trust within the halls of power.
im going for con-ass.im tired of this rallying.i love my country,but this sucks every poltician has their own interest.i dont like gloria but the thing.sino balak natin na pumalit?ok lang ba kahit ala pinag aralan..basta makapilipinas daw?im tired of all this crap.ilang beses ba na laging para sa mahirap para sa pinas.may ngyari ba.malaking ALA.let's follow saligang batas.kung majority ng congress eh pro con ass let them be.busy mga senate naten kay hayden kho eh.eh kasalanan din naman ata naten manalo ba naman sa senate mga indi kadapat dapat eh.sorry po kung di nyo nagustuhan comment ko pero this is my own opinion.im just tired of this rallying.if your really a pinoy and you want the best for your country then decide which is the best choice. and GO for it.mabuhay po tayong mga pinoy.
People are protesting Con-Ass but do they really know what they are fighting about? Those who have power & position and are protesting Con-Ass should launch an education campaign to let the masses know what it is, what would the effect be if this is implemented and what does it mean for the ordinary citizen. Shouting insults to GMA and her supporters won't do anything but make noise. If people understand why Con-Ass isn't a good thing, then perhaps there would be more supporters. Just my two cents.
They feed the public with their wild speculations on the "Con Ass" to foment anger and they succeeded. Nowhere in the proposed plan that there's an extension of elected officials including the President...why the noise? I had a feeling that there's someone orchestrating this rallies and its not the common masses themselves.
There are only few protesters who are against Con-Ass.
These people are called activists.
They are active on any issues which might be true or not including this Con-Ass.
But it does not mean that it is the sentiment of the people, or the feeling of the people.
These are sentiments who are against the government like opposition and other activists who are against issues like con-ass.
Let us not be blinded by these rallies, by these protests against Con-Ass or against Arroyo.
They are only one segment of society called activists.
It is better to ignore these few noises... an annoyance to government.
The true feeling of millions of people called silent majority are for Con-Ass.
well if there is no peace what the heck..
Keep working ,great job!
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Keep working ,great job!
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@michael - don't be so sure .