Bunsoi Magazine

20 Responses to “What is Con Ass?”

1. 

   Kelvin Servigon
   

   14. Jun, 2009

   NO TO CONASS!!!
2. 

   The Phil Guild Guide
   

   15. Jun, 2009

   Filipino conversations normally go like this: “Ganito ‘yan eh. ‘Di. Ganyan ‘yan.” The issue of constitutional amendment has always been faced with the usual word “hindi”. I wrote about the need for such an assembly in my blog. You can read more about it there. Or in a nutshell, one such change I need our voted congress people to attend to is the changing of the multiparty system to just a two-party system. This is something that affects Filipinos not just every election, but all throughout one regime and the regimes that follow. Yes or No to something is not just the issue here. There are reasons to consider that’s why we need to examine issues and not act like babies who just love to say “No”.
3. 

   jenny
   

   15. Jun, 2009

   err. ako ay isang walang pakialam na studyante. haha pero… curious parin ako ano ba itong conass na to… pat, i am still confused… why no to conass??? related ba yung conass sa pagchange ng constitution natin? eto ba yung from democratic to parliamentary? haaay.. wala tlga akong future sa politics. hahahah
4. 

   schoolsph
   

   15. Jun, 2009

   con ass actually means “conniving as*h*les” plotters, who are those of power grabbing *grins*
5. 

   The Phil Guild Guide
   

   17. Jun, 2009

   Another reason for our voted congress people to assemble or convene in changing the constitution is the issue of regional rate. Filipinos in the provinces do not earn the same rate as the Manileneos. For instance, the call center rate in Baguio is 8k minimum. Here in Manila, it’s 12-15k minimum. Print products are the same. Lots of other issues are involved like deliveries of goods, etc. because the center of progress is in Manila only. As with our current multiparty system, every election there are like 5 presidentiables. The winning candidate gets the 30% vote. That is still a minority vote compared to the 70% majority who lost (including all the supporters). This means that we always a minority presidency that is not supported by the masses. That’s under the 1987 constitution. My hope is for the voted congress people to change it to just a two-party system as they do in the states so that issues are streamlined and the real majority of votes are optimized and not wasted. Cory Aquino appointed experts to revise the constitution in 1987. We didn’t vote for them. At least know, we have voted public officials who can do it. That is the real beauty of democracy, unlike other Filipinos who always complain and just love to say NO without analyzing the issues. By the way, my dad was an activist in the ’70s. Let’s learn from the past and move forward to the future. Let us not romanticize the past because progress is never trapped behind us.
6. 

   jenny
   

   21. Jun, 2009

   i think i might i agree with the phil guild guide he does got a point pat. what do you think?
7. 

   The Phil Guild
   

   21. Jun, 2009

   Let us also learn from China during the reign of Mao Zedong or Tse-Tung when he cajoled the Chinese youth to destroy their schools, kill their teachers, even their parents and elders for ideologies. What the youth must learn to do is assert themselves not in a revolutionary way, but in the sense of awareness, thinking, and judgment. Let the youth be the change that they want to see in the society and it starts in simple ways that level up to bigger responsibilities. No youth must be blinded to follow politicians to take to streets and make a fool of himself when there is always a better route to progress and it’s for a long term — public service. This is why most public service positions go to people who don’t deserve them. The good ones have forsaken the platforms for service because they have been bombarded by the media to think that public service in politics is dirty and it is, has been for a long time. Even communists have infiltrated government posts. The people who take the posts are the ones who are not good. The platforms and positions are not to be blamed. We make the system to be what it is. Similarly, democracy is a tool. If we misuse and abuse it the way the wayward Filipinos do, then we are letting this nation to be just a YES and NO nation, an unthinking nation. We are not that.
8. 

   danski
   

   24. Jun, 2009

   i think what u put here must be put into action…we need to do something…do u think this blog is enough to change the society?anyway for academic purposes it may help, but the best thing we can do is trying to do something.and what is that something i do not know.its up to you to find out what it is..God bless
9. 

   Bunsoi
   

   24. Jun, 2009

   @Jenny,
   Yeah Jen. The Phil Guild was able to pull of some great points on his article. And with that, I think it just solidifies my statement on No To Con Ass. And yeah. I might post a more thorough explanation of my side on this issue in the coming days.
   @Danski,
   Yeah, right. I plead guilty for that. I don’t really have plans of going into the streets, go to the Congress and ask for explanations from the congressmen. It’s a pretty sad truth nowadays that people are more interested in hsaring their views and opinions on matters like these on the internet, rather than doing the traditional way that we all know of, the less-convenient of carrying tarps on the streets and make noise.
   But, as a so-called responsible citizen, I might try my best to do something soon that could PUT what I wrote here into ACTION.
   Thanks for dropping by.
10. 

    Bunsoi
    

    24. Jun, 2009

    @The Phil Guild,
    Thanks for dropping by and sharing with us really sensible comments.
    Those are the kind of comments that we need for us to have a better understanding on what this whole con ass issue is all about.
    I’ll be reading your post in your blog later, and see more interesting points.
    Hope to read more of your great explanations here.
11. 

    baycas
    

    01. Jul, 2009

    The Senate and the HOR should vote separately…

    What the Constitution has put asunder,
    Let no man join together;

    And, what the Constitution has joined together once,
    Let no man increase it for the nonce.
12. 

    negie
    

    05. Jul, 2009

    i agree of such change w/ our constitution but then i strongly disagree w/ con ass because for me, it would only be a trouble among the people in our country. just imagine our government today, we are in a democratic kind but then we can’t unite together, how much more if we will be led by a prime minister?
13. 

    emir tablizo
    

    07. Jul, 2009

    kung pagbabasihang ang 2010 election dapat matuloy ito kahit na naaprubahan na ang CON ASS sana matuloy parin ang election kahit na 11 na taong gulang palamang ako, tama lang na matuloy ang CON ASS “PAG” katapos ng 2010 election…………

    alam naman natin na kaya gustong maaprubahan agad ang batas na iyan dahil gusto lamang ni pangulong gloria makapagal na mag patuloy siya sa pagiging presidente niya at maging prime minyster sya …………………..
14. 

    mark
    

    10. Jul, 2009

    actually, yes or no to con ass, the problem is not on the government or any constitution.. it’s the people, danski is right we should not just blog coz it doesn’t change anything, we have to do something and the first thing you could do is to start with yourself, do not point out others, start inyourself to change the society, if the people will just do good , whatever constitution we have we will not have this so called crisis..
    and for jenny conass means our government will change from bicameral to unicameral it means we will no longer have two house chamber instead one……
15. 

    juliet
    

    12. Jul, 2009

    there are a lot of comments in here that speaks a lot of things about con ass and if only those things can be heard by everyone there might be a possibility that those persons who really don’t care might open their minds on thinking about the best ways on helping todays economic problems.
16. 

    07
    

    20. Jul, 2009

    ……………………………………..????????????????????
17. 

    tenmah
    

    30. Jul, 2009

    yeah.. actually , i really don’t understand why there is a need for us to really understand the con-ass issue, but for the fact that we belong in this country, I think we should be open-minded ’bout everthing that happens in this environment. But the thing I want to clarify is that what will be the effects of this con-ass??? hwmpp. I hope to get more answers that really explains the said issue….
18. 

    The Phil Guild Guide
    

    04. Aug, 2009

    Our 1987 constitution, the one we are using right now, is not perfect, but it’s okay. We are still using it, right? The late Cory Aquino had a group of experts draft it. They were not even elected officials. They were from various sectors actually. However, we don’t want to settle for a mediocre output also. The reason why it has lapses now is because at the time it was drafted and presented to the Filipinos in a plebiscite, it was useful and for a few years after until various circumstances in the world and locally affecting the Philippines revealed that there are lapses in it. One lapse being the rule for presidential candidates during election. In the constitution there can be more than 2 candidates to run for president. What’s the disadvantage in that? If the we choose from a list of, say, 5 candidates, then the votes will be spread. The emerging winner will come out as someone who has not that much votes because the rest of the votes were spread out for the other candidates. When the winning candidate starts his regime, it remains to be seen pa if the supporters of the other candidates who are also many will support the regime. We end up with lots of people who may not support the regime at all. Try studying hard in school only to be torn down by 7 out of 9 teachers who don’t support you, it’s the same scenario. And teens ought to know that the charter change initiative started in the Ramos administration. The PIRMA initiative was opposed by some religious groups and communist-leaning advocacy groups. That time they said, it was self-serving. The efforts to change it continued even during the time of Erap. Again, the same people opposed it and said the same thing. When Gloria ran for presidency in 2004, she even mentioned it as her high priority in her campaign. Again, the same groups opposed it saying the same thing. It only means that the opposing groups never want any change in the 1987 constitution which has more than 1 lapse. Why? Because no public servant is good enough for them. No matter who sits on the presidential seat, they will oppose any change. As a matter of fact, the Communist Party of the Philippines openly opposes it for allegedly being anti-masses and feudal. Eh, and lider ng CPP-NPA is Jose Maria Sison who is in conveniently in Netherlands. He has been its leader since 1969. They don’t even change leadership and yet they oppose every President we elect. CPP-NPA is Maoist in ideology meaning they uphold Mao Tse Tung’s teachings which include fighting China’s teachers and parents’ moral guidance and traditional education. The Chinese teenagers under Mao’s pleas even killed they teachers and parents. Don’t you see why most UP students are being cajoled into joining youth groups that mask as freedom advocacy groups? Cory’s appointed constitution makers in 1987 were not even elected officials. Why can’t we let our elected officials do us service? This is because some Communists are already in position in the government service and yet whenever they talk about government, they talk as if they are not part of the system. They are representatives of various advocacy groups who are slowly misusing our form of democracy and we are being tossed around to fight one another. This is divisiveness at best.
19. 

    The Phil Guild Guide
    

    04. Aug, 2009

    This is for you to further understand the events leading to the 1987 constitution: To paint a picture of what really happened in 1969 when Jose Maria Sison established the CPP-NPA, the Philippines was famously called the Pearl of the Orient. We were the leading country in South East Asia. We were rivals with Japan in the whole of Asia. Marcos, before 1970, ruled well (I did not say he was generally a good person). Unfortunately, his weakness was Imelda who was self-serving. Jose Ma. Sison and his cohorts saw this as a good opportunity to weaken the Marcos regime. There is even the conspiracy theory that Plaza Miranda bombing and the unnecessary rallies before it was conducted by proponents of communism. Marcos would never place himself in such a delicate position to be blamed for killing his political rivals. It’s stupid to do so. The man was intelligent before coming to terms with self-serving allies who made him self-serving eventually. What I mean to say is that the communists started the chaos of the early ’70s. Martial Law temporarily put the rebels into hiding but it was not supposed to be the best reaction even as a temporary measure. Worse, it was not even good for a long period of time. Marcos could have used another presidential power but he did not which is his downfall. These days, the communists are no longer just in the mountains. They have cells spread out in various sectors of our society. They are sowing seeds of disrespect for government, divisiveness among Filipinos by misusing the privileges of democracy… much like how Hitler and his cohorts destroyed democracy in Germany and started the Third Reich before World War 2. Now that there are lapses in the current Constitution, they communists don’t want the rest of the Filipinos enjoying the full benefits of democracy that will make this country progressive. Their efforts to oppose changes in the laws of our nation is regressive. Like a boy or a girl who is hung up on a ex-flame. He or she can’t move on.
20. 

    tenmah
    

    06. Aug, 2009

    okay, thank you for explaining that what we called 1987 constitution. I think I have now the idea of that said issue we are facing now,, thank you for the time you have spent in elaborating that said issue…. by the way, I hope you can give me more follow-up information about that issue and i’m willing to read and give comment…