Con-Ass: Congress has a right to be stupid!

Last Tuesday night, ABS-CBN had a live feed (to almost midnight) in the House of Representatives where the debate about charter changes (cha-cha) was under way specifically to form Congress into a Constituent Assembly (con-ass) or House Resolution No.1109. Funny, but the debate wasn’t about a shift to a parliamentary form of government or about a Federal system of government. The debate was whether or not they should be voting on this issue at this nth time.

I was on time to hear Rep. Roilo Golez appeal on behalf of the minority group to the Speaker of the House not to vote on this issue until they made more debates on the plenary session. But then, what we saw was the majority railroading the session. They voted to end the debate and went on recess. The Speaker merely “accommodated” mostly partylist members to express their displeasure or disgust that cha-cha was being rammed down their throats. Indeed, it was a tyranny of numbers!

Among the shortlist of Congressmen who spoke, the most convincing for me was Rep. Rufus Rodriguez who objected on substantive grounds that casting this vote violates the constitution and it also violates the Rules of Congress. And more importantly, it specifically violates the bicameral nature or character of Congress. I fully concur with Rep. Rodriguez. Congress cannot by itself, without a joint session with the Philippine Senate and in blatant disregard of parliamentary rules and procedures, go on to vote on a resolution changing our basic law without the involvement of the Senate.

Rep. Jose De Venecia also gave an impassioned speech. I also agree with him that the present move to amend the constitution by con-ass do not even have clear objectives, like whether there should be a shift to a Parliamentary system of government, which he has always fought for. Finally Joe de Venecia proposed for a Constitutional Convention (con-con). But in the past, when he was Speaker of the House, he too tried to ram a con-ass on our throats because he was with the majority group then.

At the end of all those speeches against the measure, House Majority Leader Rep. Raul del Mar closed the proceedings and voted viva voce with “Nays” and “Ayes” and listening to the louder voices of the “Ayes” the resolution was adopted. This brings us to the question: Why is changing the charter so important to us Filipinos that it starts merely with the passage of a House Resolution? Something as big as charter changes should start with a bang and not railroaded upon the minority!

But as Rep. Louie Villafuerte (he was the original author of this resolution, but has distanced himself from it) pointed out during the tv interview, the main purpose of this resolution is to get someone to file a case before the Supreme Court to find out whether the House should get the 3/4ths vote as a whole with the Senate or by voting separately. If this was the purpose of this exercise, then Congress has proven to the Filipino people that they are more stupid than we think they are! There’s a saying that goes, “Everybody has the right to be stupid…” But our Congressmen are abusing this right!

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If you are a nobody with no connections anywhere and you end up in trouble with the law, it is almost a guarantee that you’d end up getting a sentence commensurate to you crime. But when your name is Ruben Ecleo, Supreme Leader of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) and your mother is a congresswoman in your district in Dinagat, it would take more than six judges to try your case! This is justice in the Philippines where delays are the rule and quick justice is the exception!

Yet all our law students, lawyers, lawmakers and members of the Judiciary know by heart that legal dictum from William Gladstone, “Justice Delayed is Justice Denied” which we carried from our Spanish lawmakers, “Justicia retrasada es Justicia denegada.” Yet the case of Ruben Ecleo who is accused of parricide in the murder of his wife Alona Bacolod is now on its nth year still wallowing in more delays. While we’re seeking for justice for Alona, her family who were also gunned down, are also crying for justice!

But there is some good news that we gathered in this case because after the new raffle was done, the celebrated Ecleo case is now in the hands of Judge Soliver Peras of Branch 10 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC). He is a judge whom I personally respect for his humility. I last met him during the Sinulog parade when he approached me in full military uniform (he is a military reservist) and I almost failed to recognize him, until I saw his name on his badge. I hope that those rusty cogs of justice would finally move. Not just move, but speed up to end with real justice.