This is a rejoinder to a news article about Migrante on the Issue of Constitutional Reform. The self-proclaimed “defender” said OFWs to thwart ChaCha attempts. To which I say, OFWs are not a homogenous lot. There are also OFWs who support constitutional reform – I am an OFW, and I am not only in favor of constitutional reform, but I am working my ass out to convince my friends and family to support it because it’s the best chance we have at tilting the odds in favor of reducing poverty and expanding the middle class on a nationwide scale – in the near term.
In the long term, individual knowledge, attitudes and behaviors will of course determine personal success. The point however is that, we need a policy environment that enables the use of our individual abilities to the utmost of our abilities – to make it grow, not restrict it. As our ASEAN neighbors leave us in the dust, we don’t have the luxury of waiting – we need to force the issue now – be a squeaky wheel.
Let the debates begin.
OFWs to thwart ChaCha attemptsANTIPOLO City, Jan. 13, 2011—Migrante Middle East (Migrante-ME) forewarns administration lawmakers that they will be ‘whipped’ by protests in the Philippines and abroad if they will push the change in Constitution.John Monterona, regional coordinator of Migrante in the Mid-east said in a statement that they will not allow neither pro-Aquino legislators, nor the ‘old’ proponents and propagandists of Charter Change or Cha-Cha to “muddle” the 1987 Constitution.
There is no need to “muddle” the 1987 constitution – it already is “muddled”.
“Any attempt to introduce amendment(s) in the Philippine Constitution is futile, completely a waste of the government resources and time.
On the contrary, introducing amendments that correct a flawed policy which causes a catastrophic waste of government resources and time – is the very best step to take. If you are on a vehicle going left when it should be going straight you can get off the vehicle and take another one. However, if it is the only vehicle you have – then you pull the vehicle over, check and fix it – or you’ll never get to your destination.
Instead of spending much time in contemplating to have our Constitution changed, the lawmakers are advised to focus on the improvement of the lives of the Filipinos, stricter implementation of the good laws in the country, and to push for self-reliance by means of strengthening the agriculture and other sectors,” Monterona said.
Spending time to to correct and fix a systemic wrong is the best investment we can make as a people. The 60/40 protectionist provisions do not improve the lives of Filipinos. The 60/40 provisions all foreign investors to do business with the local oligarchs. Removing the 60/40 provisions means foreign investors AND Filipino entrepreneurs have more choices of equity structures that can generate jobs for FILIPINO JOB-SEEKERS – therefore improving Pinoy lives.
Stricter implementation of a FLAWED constitution is STUPID.Fix the flaw FIRST and implement the revised LAW.
Self-reliance does not mean raising barriers to investments that create jobs for Filpinos. Self-reliance does not mean protecting LOUSY LOCAL BUSINESSES at the expense of Filipino consumers. Self-reliance means innovating local technology, blending it with the best global technologies available, stepping up to the plate and competing against the world’s best, and going back to the drawing table to continuously improve our product/service offerings.
During the time of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration, there were attempts to change the 1987 Charter for reason that some provisions of the existing Constitution, are already “outdated.” Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her allies in the Philippine Congress believed that by changing the Constitution and the form of government, the Philippines will enjoy progress. However, anti-Cha-Cha groups said that the attempts of amending the Constitution have nothing to do with progress but for the administration and its allies’ personal interests.
It’s getting clearer every day that the only argument that can be presented by those who object to Constitutional Reform isn’t about the merits of liberalization, a more representative and more accountable government – but FEAR of Arroyo.
Arroyophobia – PHOBIA: A phobia (from the Greek: ?????,phóbos, meaning “fear” or “morbid fear”) is an irrational, intense and persistent fear of certain situations, activities, things, animals, or people. The main symptom of this disorder is the excessive and unreasonable desire to avoid the feared stimulus. When the fear is beyond one’s control, and if the fear is interfering with daily life, then a diagnosis under one of the anxiety disorders can be made.
Mister Monterona – under a Parliamentary System, you have to vote for a Member of Parliament – who in turn will vote for the Prime Minister. If the people do vote for Arroyo – so what? Does this mean she automatically wins? You see if term limits are removed, what makes you think that only Arroyo will run – what if FVR gets re-elected instead of Arroyo? Are they evil? Really? How are their concessions to the oligarchy any different than Aquino’s concessions now? NO fuss if Globe Telecom is service provider of CCT – but a whole lot of fuss of evilness if a company other than Globe (you know like… ZTE) got the contract? Where’s the progress Mr Monterona?
When Aquino was voted into the Presidency, those who didn’t support him, took it like a man – and gave Aquino the respect conferred upon the institution. Now mind you – respect does not mean I cannot disagree with a passion.
“Majority of the Filipinos are aware of the issue [of Cha-Cha], what are its pros and cons, who are the people behind the move, and the motives of these people, and that is to further exploit the country’s natural and human resources, for the benefit of the ruling clique,” said Monterona, in reference to big businesses, landlords, and multinational and transnational corporations.
Filipinos are aware of the sloganeering and the demonization of charter change built around any incumbent – incumbent-o-phobia, in this case – Arroyophobia.
Migrante and Monterona, however, are ill-informed and misguided because the 1987 Constitution leaves the Filipinos as colonial subjects of the oligarchy – the foreign big business and multinational corporations have no other recourse but to partner with the oligarchy clique of Ayala, Lopez, Cojuangco, Aboitiz, Pangilinan, Sy, Tan – BECAUSE THE 1987 CONSTITUTION SAYS SO, BLOODY DOOFUS!!!!
That’s what needs to go away – and these Migrante buttheads together with that dumbass Monterona – want to retain the very constitution whose flawed 60/40 provision is causing these social iniquities – ang sarap sapakin!
He also believes that the U.S. Government has something to do with the “resurrecting” of the already “dead” Cha-Cha.
So what if the US resurrects charter change? In case you haven’t come across the Arangkada 2010 recommendations – http://www.investphilippines.info/?page_id=142 – I’d say it’s not just the US – but it’s Filipinos and the rest of the international community of job creators.
What is wrong with foreigners providing jobs for Filipinos? A job – whether from a local or foreign investor is a job that can send children to school, put food on the table, and a roof over the head. Isn’t this what we are looking for? Then why are we preventing the opportunity and policy environment that can make this happen? Migrante is anti-life, it is pro-poverty, and pro-misery – Migrante and the entire leftist wants to keep you poor and deprived so it will have a ready base of discontented nonthinking warm bodies that can be sent to rallies at the drop of a hat – or at the price of a can of sardines. Migrante wants to keep the protectionist constitution so that there will alway be OFWS that Migrante can solicit membership funds from – wag na ‘toy.
“They (the peddlers of Cha-Cha) have same agenda, just like of the past administration, and that is lifting the term limits [of the elected officials], side-by-side with the change of the economic provisions in order to serve the interest of the U.S. government and its cohorts: the international financial institutions, the likes of the International Monetary fund, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank,” he said.
This is one of the biggest pieces of manure peddled by the emo-laden left.
The term-limits are obviously not working for the Philippines. It is too short if a competent executive is in the wheel. It is too long if we have a highly incompetent one. There’s a better way – the vote of no confidence provided in a parliamentary system
A motion of non-confidence (alternatively vote of non-confidence, censure motion, no-confidence motion, or confidence motion) is a parliamentary motion traditionally put before a parliament by the opposition in the hope of defeating or weakening a government, or, rarely by an erstwhile supporter who has lost confidence in the government. The motion is passed or rejected by means of a new parliamentary vote (a vote of non-confidence).
A vote of no confidence is also called a motion of no confidence, a censure motion, a no confidence motion, or a confidence motion. According to Westminster parliamentary procedure, governments often respond to a vote of no confidence by calling for a confidence motion. Parliament passes or rejects the vote. Typically, when a vote of no confidence passes parliament, the government official must either resign or seek a parliamentary dissolution or general election.
In a Westminster system, if the government chooses or is forced to resign, the Monarch or the Viceroy may ask the Official Opposition party if they are willing to form a government. This may require a coalition of parties or an agreement of support to give the Opposition party enough parliamentary seats to withstand any confidence challenges against them. If this cannot be done, parliament is dissolved and a general election is called. The Monarch or Viceroy may also simply dissolve Parliament without seeking the forming of another Government depending on factors such as time until a mandated Election, reasonable expectation of the forming of another Government or in very rare circumstances, on Royal Prerogative alone.
Many people mistakenly associate a vote of no confidence with the term impeachment. The two words mean different things. Impeachment implies that a crime has been committed by a government official. Impeachment is a rare political process. Other political leaders in America, from the Attorney General to the local sheriff, may receive a vote of no confidence. A vote of no confidence doesn’t imply that the person under vote has committed a crime, however.
Monterona also said that if the Aquino administration will become successful in changing the 1987 Charter, the Filipino people must expect the worst economic condition as liberalization of the local industries and imports would mean less jobs, more imports that will fiercely compete with the local produce, and privatization of the key services rendered by the government that translates to higher prices, low incomes, and poor services. (Noel Sales Barcelona)
This is where I (and the facts of the success of our ASEAN neighbors) definitely part ways with Monterona, Bello, Hontiveros, Akbayan, and Bayan Muna. Contrary to Migrante’s obviously factually incorrect position (empirical data shows protectionism is inefficient and translates to higher prices, low incomes, and poor services) – privatization is not liberalization
Monterona is correct in stating that the current liberalization has not benefited consumers – for good reason, the government privatized BUT DID NOT LIBERALIZE.No thanks to the 60/40 provisions in the 1987 Constitution.
Thus corporations which have deeper pockets which can finance infrastructure projects like energy production have been kept out AND we are left with MERALCO and the entire slew of Aquino cronies with three syllable surnames.
If the Aquino administration successfully changes the 1987 charter into a more liberal one:
- Lesser Filipinos have to go overseas if the job creators are allowed to set up shop in the Philippines.
- While it is is true that some local companies – and their employees will be affected by the competition – the liberal environment also creates new industries that can absorb the offloaded capacity – therefore, there will be more jobs, not less.
- Filipino consumers can have access to companies that can provide a better deal – lower prices, higher incomes, and better services. The prime career choices in the Philippines nowadays aren’t jobs in Filipino companies. Just look at how Lucio Tan’s PAL treats its stewardesses or how Ayala’s BPI treats bank employees. Go on strike? Hell no – take your talent to a company that gives you better value. Let BPI and PAL sink if they don’t want to innovate.
- Our choices need not be limited between one lousy Filipino company versus a lousier Filipino company – which is what the protectionist 1987 constitution rammed down our throats. Think about it – Globe DSL sucks, Smart DSL sucks, Bayantel DSL sucks, PLDT DSL sucks – DSL services of Philippine telecomms suck – don’t you wish you had another choice? Yes – you can – but first, you have to get rid of the 60/40 provisions then maybe you can feel the rush when using ComCast, Clearwire, Verizon, Sprint, and other ASEAN providers.
Monterona and Migrante have good intentions – but their prescriptions of retaining the protectionist 60/40 provisions lead all the way to economic hell – the very things they want to get out of.
The site pennyjobs.com encapsulates how off-tangent Monterona and Migrante are:
The good news is that the free market forces greed to compete with itself. The result is that it is very difficult to remain greedy in a free market. The free market forces greedy people to make a decision to reinvest their money back into the market and if they make a bad investment decision or they mistreat their customers or employees, they will lose their money to someone else that conducts business in a much less greedy way.
The only way to remain greedy in the free market is to create a competitive advantage that protects your business from competition. And that is accomplished by using government influence to control your industry with excessive regulation, trade agreements, labor, political contributions and other policies.
Controlling government policy is the only way to remain greedy in a free market. The way to stop businesses from controlling government policy is to not allow government policy to interfere with the economy.
The more influence the government has in controlling the economy the more likely that greed is going to get involved. Government intervention opens the door for capitalism to fail and that is exactly what happens.
The bleeding heart left and its pogrom of misguided populist retards is gearing up for the North Koreanization of the Philippines. Can’t we just send them to the North Korean worker’s paradise where they can enjoy the fruits of socialism. 
Thank goodness for people who have the good sense to support constitutional reform – may your tribe increase.
About the Author
BongV has written 208 stories on this site.
BongV is a supply chain analyst and designer, IT micro-preneur (for now), advocate of globalization and education, and who volunteers his free time raising funds to support poor schools in the Philippines. He is a formerly Division Chief of the Investment Generation and Projects Development Division of the "Invest in Davao"/Davao Investment Promotion Center in 1994-97.
32 Comments on “OFWs and Constitutional Reform: To Be or Not To Be”
daaaang!… fact: in the absence of constitutional argument, picture this: >>> clark air base & subic naval bases…unc sam’s biggest bases outside of US… employed ‘sang tambaks na million flips, directly and indirectly… poured in million $$$ in flip economy… flip nationalism’toopidity closed them…>>> next: factories in any hood (in my hood, it’s FILIPINAS SYNTHETIC) employing sang tambaks na gung gongs… gung gongs rallied/demonstrated agains the factory until they closed and relocated to tsekwaland… >>> next: contracts/investments/ companies tied up in flipland’s courts for approval… waiting for more kotongs… changed their mindset and chose vietnam, malaysia, india, etc… etc… to make my thingy short, all of them are losses to flips…. oh no…. now what to do??? allah eh, flips become OFWS working in the same companies flips kicked out of the country…. flips are very beri-beri smart…. LOL!
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BongV Reply:
January 13th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
exactamente. it’s so effed up.
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Renato Pacifico Reply:
January 13th, 2011 at 9:03 pm
HA!HA!HA!HA! This dude is just funny. Funny like HA!HA!HA!-Funny.
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Birdigator Reply:
January 13th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
Right on the spot!
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The cha-cha debate should be put on the floor. The best our Senators and congressmen can do anyways are naming and renaming streets to their liking, copying laws from america and intimidate us with their englsichtzes. It is about time. Not later in Noy2x’s term. Not in senator and congressmen’s term. Antipinoys will be the watchdog and overseer of misinformation from the idiot peryodistas
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ulong pare Reply:
January 13th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
daaaang! @renpac naman naman namannn… the orig (plagiarized) flip constitution was prostituted by marcos&cronies… enter santa ate cory&kamag-anak inc… she shreded and reconstituted the orig constitution and called it the “1987 constitution” aka “articles of oligarchy”… the preceding flip prezes prostituted santa ate cory’s 1987 reconstituted constitution… now, here we go again… a movement to amend the trashed, discarded and blatantly ignored piece of paper is again at the forefront of the flip kagung gungan to be shreded, reconstituted once more… ay sus ginoo… ano ba yan????
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I’m still taking the whole economic liberalization thing with a salt shaker handy. I honestly do believe that straight-out 100% FO could lead to a more import-dependent society or at least one where foreign companies in tandem with local political machines can leverage as much control over our economy as the current oligarchs though. With technology so advanced as it is, there will probably be fewer jobs made available than promised.
It’s the kind of condition that led to Allende’s election in Chile (and the subsequent coup on 9/11. In 1973 that is.)
What makes countries like Vietnam and Indonesia more attractive isn’t that they’re corrupt, after all they rank just as low as we do on the corruption spectrum. It’s that their political machines at least make the effort to channel their graft back into improving public infrastructure and the standard of life. The Filipino political machine does not. And even under a political system change, I highly doubt that our personality-based politics (even in Britain, it’s all about politician and party name recall e.g. Gordie, Cameron, Boris, etc.) will go away barring a culture change.
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ChinoF Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 12:22 am
Allende used 100% FO… and look at Chile now. They just finished a mine shaft rescue at nearly the same time as the bungled Manila Bus Hostage Crisis. They make us look like idiots.
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The Lazzo Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 12:41 am
Allende? You mean Pinochet. Allende went on a nationalization spree because of the exploitation of copper companies, something I disagree with in the current system we have.
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ChinoF Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 2:20 am
Oh yeah, I’m corrected on that. Allende I believe was installed by CIA operatives. That’s quite different from 100% FO, which if used well, will actually help the country move up. Allende basically went totally protectionist and so messed up the economy. Pinochet did the open economy – with the help of Milton Friedman’s Chicago Boys. Actually, Chile is more like proof that protectionism sucks, and the open economy wins.
The Lazzo Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 3:05 am
Pinochet was installed by the CIA coup. >_> If I recall the Open Economy bit really only happened AFTER he was gone.
ChinoF Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 3:21 am
I see. Checked it up in Wikipedia. Well, even in Allende’s time, his policies seemed to be messing the economy up. Pinochet’s use of Chicago Boys policies more likely laid the foundation for better policies, even if he did mess up a bit at the start. I’m just certain that open economic policies worked better for Chile in the long run.
Aegis-Judex Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 8:57 am
What, like we don’t already look like idiots in the eyes of our SEA neighbors?
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BongV Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 12:45 am
Singapore is an import-dependent society.
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The Lazzo Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 1:45 am
That’s because they’re far too small to have any real resource pool of their own.
If I recall, several individual EU countries impose VAT on imports but not exports along with their otherwise free trade principles in order to encourage manufacturing and industry buildup on their countries’ soil. Perhaps the Philippines could use a law like this to minimize the risk of possible exploitation.
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ChinoF Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 2:25 am
We should first validate whether exploitation is a real threat, and whether exploitation happens not because of the open market, but because of protectionism. If you think of exploitation as “under the table deals” with local companies and going over the 40% limit, eh kaya nga, protectionism limits things so even the foreign companies are tempted to use corruption. If we opened the economy, wala na yung corruption na yan, 100% ownership is legal, and you can legislate transparency laws for the companies.
BongV Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 9:15 am
@The Lazzo – the better question is do these EU countries have 60/40 provisions in their constitutions. The answer is NO.
Does the Philippines have a 60/40 provision in its 1987 Constitution – the answer is YES.
kickapoo Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 4:04 am
Migrante-ME stress too much about the motives of people behind Constitutional Reform. Well how about the motives and interests of those against it?
1987 Oligarch Constitution is almost 24 years old. So far, the rich are getting richer buying Porsche with their own money, and the poor, well, couldnt even afford a single tire cap for Porsche tires.
Why are these guys afraid of foreign investors? Were gonna tax them anyway.
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Weizz Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 7:29 am
The porsche thing suddenly makes me think of the “let them eat cake” thing in another way. Kinda like this: Oil price hikes? LRT MRT price hikes? Jeepney, bus, and taxi price hikes?
Let them ride Porsche!
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ChinoF Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 9:00 am
PNoy Antoinette?
BongV Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 9:21 am
@Lazzo – the Vietnamese and Chinese political machines exerted the same control during their protectionist command economy years. did this work? NO it did not work. there was no economic activity that generated revenues for the socialist government – much like we see in North Korea today. So, NO – the political machine is useless if it pursues FLAWED policies.
For Cultural change to take place, you can increase the chances of success by providing an enabling environment – removing the 60/40 restrictions is such an enabling environment.
Nothing wrong with being import-dependent as long as people’s quality of life improves – Exhibit #1 – Singapore. Exhibit #2 – Dubai. Exhibit #3 – Hong Kong. These areas don’t have natural resources, totally import dependent, export-driven – and high quality of life. Philippine in contrast – well, you can’t even get a decent internet connection – but you sure get to see nice TV ads on internet services of Globe
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Weizz Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 9:52 am
Contract on net: 1 Mbps
Average bandwidth: 400 to 800 kbps
I know that the 1 Mbps is the max but my net went as low as 200 kbps. That’s freaking too low for the contract. Better study ECE laws more. They are certainly breaking a law somewhere.
Also it keeps disconnecting every 10 minutes. My dial-up network before are more reliable than this o.o
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BongV Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 10:03 am
I have 15mbps download and 3mps upload.
Am salivating at comcast xfinitiy’s 50mbps download and 10mbps upload.
Weizz Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
@BongV
Haha. I missed the 6Mbps the university had when we were during our student exchange program. And 50mbps? o.o Better grab buckets, the house would be flooded if that would happen here.
I have attended broadband seminars and saw the 4G demo of Globe. I don’t know what really happened but the modem was smoking o.o Also been to the Telecommunications Training Institute and we saw the fiber optics equipment and it was quite expensive.
One reason the Globe manager in the region I am in that the limit is 2Mbps is due to the fact that there is not much demand for higher bandwidth.
Renato Pacifico Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 11:18 am
@LAZzo,,, HA!HA!HA!HA! The Filipino corrupt channel their graft to uplift the American economy …. HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!
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I’ll just say that this Migrante ME group turns out to be a bunch of charlatans and liars. It’s sad that CBCP allowed this to be featured on their site (CBCP News). It’s as if they want to be identified with communists.
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Aegis-Judex Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 8:36 am
As someone with sympathy towards McCarthy’s anti-communist ethos, it makes my skin crawl. Why? Because commies wish to destroy the elements of human souls: our creeds, our sense of self, our desire to transcend our limits, our very importance as human beings, in no particular order. In a truly Red state, what are we but automatons of the Party?
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ChinoF Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 9:04 am
I just hope CBCP can clarify its stance, since I heard on the grapevine that they may favor constitutional reform. If they do so, that’s great. Perhaps they featured the Migrante news as a view of the “other side.”
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There will always be people who will block all our desire for change and progress. It is because they are profiting immensely in our present lousy economic conditions.
Noynoy Aquino; the Conjuangco-Aquino family; the rest of the Oligarchy are afraid of business competition…so they protect their business interests; by enacting protectionist laws. These laws are even in our Constitution. See how Greedy, these Bastards are?
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Renato Pacifico Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Of course, they’ll protect their inefficient oligarchy establishments tooth and nail. The way to protect ‘em is buy idiot peryodiko as their propagandists to protect their economic and political interests.
60/40 is protectionism. To protect their interest. 100% ownership of peryodiko? DAMN THEY ARE GENIUS. Because if peryodiko were just even 60/40 these oligarchs are goner.
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Hyden Toro Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
They are “Mana-nanso”. We are the “tanga”, palaging natatanso…ABS-CBN, their foremost propaganda tool is owned by the Lopezes…they put false information in your mind…thought control also…now we became like Monkeys, dancing to the Wowoowee tune of “Giling-Giling”.
Dance, they say…we dance…”Giling”, they say…we “giling-giling”; vote for our stupid candidate, they say…we voted for their stupid candidate…
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Renato Pacifico Reply:
January 14th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Dude, Hayden, your scenario is like from the movie Inception starring Leonardo di Caprio. They plant poison into our minds … DANG. Antipinoy is the only independent source of information currently worldwide for Philipfines.