Skip to main content

The Outdated Database of a Die-Hard 1987 Constitution of the Philippines Apologist

Gemini AI Art

A few days ago, I wrote about how Hilario G. Davide Jr. contradicted himself as a UN Diplomat, who's against 100% FDI. Right now, I need to address the partly good/partly bad advice. Indeed, we should never believe everything on the Internet. Some people can even get a paid domain and be publishing nonsense (ex., Pinoy Ako Blog) while a blogger like myself, is trying to carefully craft posts. I thought about the sheer double standard that I had to deal with. It's the same anti-charter change people who tell me, "Don't listen to everything on the Internet!" are also the same people who say, "You should always listen to the framers of the inviolate 1987 Constitution!" Such advice is laughable because, for one, even the late Maria Corazon "Cory" Cojuangco-Aquino spoke these words:

You must define and protect our individual freedoms and rights; you must decide how our different institutions of state will relate to each other. Do not be distracted by political debates and matters of policy that do not belong within your constitution-making exercise. You are here appointed, by the people’s wish, to write a constitution; you are not here as elected politicians.

Bear in mind that you shall be pondering, debating and writing a constitution not only for our contemporaries with their present concerns, but also for succeeding generations of Filipinos whose first concerns we cannot presume to know beforehand. Future Filipinos must always be free to decide how to address these concerns as they arise. Even the wisest cures for present maladies should not be imposed on succeeding generations that will have their own unique problems and priorities.

True and long-lived constitutions, a wise justice has told me, should be broad enough to be able to meet every exigency we cannot foretell and specific enough to stoutly protect the essentials of a true democracy; in short, open-ended documents that will always be relevant. Remember that constitutional changes are not safe or easy to come by. Our first attempt at constitutional revision was followed by a dictatorship. And this, our second endeavor, was preceded by a revolution.

Future Filipinos and their legislatures and Supreme Courts can best assess and address the challenges they will meet if they enjoy the widest latitude of thought and action. In writing a constitution have the fullest confidence that the wisdom of our race is exhausted in us. Our race has grown in wisdom over time. I believe it will continue to do so.

Yours is indeed no easy task. On the other hand, depending on the result, yours will be no small glory. Our people have suffered much. 

Not even Cory intended that the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines should be the "forever constitution" of the Philippines! Unfortunately, the framers still kept carrying over the same lousy Filipino First Policy, which was the enabler of cronyism. Even worse, some fact-checkers in the Philippines still believe that the 1987 Constitution doesn't protect the oligarchy! I respectfully beg to differ! Cory, who should've remained a symbolic Head of State, should' remained as one! 

What I do is I start posting links, whether it's from this blog or from any sources that my blog has gathered. After all, this blog was never meant to be an academic source! What I did was that I posted certain links that my blog used. They were rejected without knowing it. I remember someone who kept projecting his faults onto my blog, saying it's "useless to read my blog" because it's full of Ad Hominem. However, the same person was guilty of Ad Hominem. These two clowns even said, "What do you know about the constitution like Davide and the Monsods?" 

The big difference between the 1987 Constitution apologists and the Internet is the frequency of updates 

It should get really funny, indeed, that while it's good advice to discern what's written on the Internet, why am I supposed to blindly follow the framers? If anything, the Internet will never be perfect. To dismiss anything from the Internet without validating it is a biased act! To dismiss a YouTube video (and mind you, ABS-CBN and GMA-7 have YouTube channels) immediately just because it's on YouTube, is again a genetic fallacy and an Ad Hominem. Why do you think YouTube now has a Premium plan? Why do you think networks like National Geographic, Rappler, Discovery Channel, etc. have a YouTube channel? Would that invalidate their videos, just because they're on YouTube?

To reject anything from the Internet, because the Internet can be wrong (and there are many websites with lots of errors), but to treat the 1987 Constitution framers as "divine messengers" is a complete contradiction in many ways. It's practically using the appeal to authority (that is, using authority to dismiss any argument) and Nirvana fallacy. Nirvana fallacy would be that they reject the imperfect solution, even when it's better, in favor of their comfort zone. 

If we think about it, the Internet isn't a place ot get infallible information. Instead, it's a platform where people communicate their ideas. When I blog, I put my blog up for scrutiny. When I comment or read comments, it means that I need to read through the comment and find out if the rumor is true. The problem is that by having a mindset, "I will never listen to anyone if it's not Davide or Monsod, or any of the framers of the "holy and sacred' 1987 Constitution!", they couldn't even prove their claims like, "The 1987 Constitution is the best in the world!" This means that when they refuse to read an article, whether it's from a personal blog (which may contain many useful links) or a website, they're actually not passing through scrutiny.

In the Internet, we get updates every now and then. For example, the Supreme Court of the Philippines has a website. Today, one can now find the Constitute Project to compare constitutions in the world. The Internet had much shorter limits than today. Thanks to the Internet, one can now Google "Is the 1987 Constitution the best in the world?" Thankfully, some websites are always updating and never act like they're always right. The Internet is a huge digital library, which has been a reason why I've been able to find several books that I could buy. It was through the Internet that I was able to buy From Third World to First, a book that's hard to find in the Philippines!

It was also because of the Internet, that I was able to find out why the Philippines (a democracy) is poor, and why, ironically, Communist Vietnam is richer and the more ideal place to invest.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, thankfully Internet existed not just because I had to stay home, but also because that the Internet allowed me to find the success of other countries. It was through that scrutiny that put the Philippines shame in to other countries, and I discovered why America's credibility is sunk. It was also through the Internet that I discovered Davide's outdated claims and compared them to Mahbubani's claims about FDI. It's already the information age! Do the diehard apologists for the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines think they can just post their claim online, and that claim will not be subject to scrutiny of people on the Internet? 

Whenever the 1987 Constitution apologists say what they're saying, "Don't believe everything on the Internet, but you can always trust our framers!", on the Internet, they're shooting their own foot. They should allow themselves to be scrutinized. The problem is that they're relying on an outdated database. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines is like an operating system that's not even updated. What happened to Article XVII then? Even that needs to be amended from two-thirds vote to a 51% vote for amendments! What happened to the people's initiative? The problem is that the framers aren't updating their minds at all!

That's why I ask, "Does Davide know how to bring the Philippines up in the Asian Century?" Davide's ideas need to be tested against proven and tested people like Kishore Mahbubani and Mahathir Mohamad. It's already the information age and new generation is generated everyday. The real talk is, "Today's news is tomorrow's history!" 

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Venezuela as a Cautionary Tale on #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba, Nationalistic Pride, Welfare State Economics

The Sunday Guardian Years ago, I wrote about Venezuela's pride and protectionism , under a more "formal" style of writing compared to my latest posts. I decided to use an even "less formal" and "less academic" tone since I'm not writing a term paper. Instead, it's like how a professor and a student discuss the thesis using first person over third person, using contractions, etc., while the thesis doesn't use such tones. Back on track, I thought about the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro can spark debate. Was it a violation of sovereignty? I'm no expert on international law. However, Venezuelans can be seen celebrating Maduro's arrest. Right now, I'm using Gemini AI and Google search to help me find some sources for this blog. It's because I don't want my blog to become another gossip central, but a place to discuss facts with my own personal opinions (making sure they don't  derail the facts).  I used Venezuela ...
Read more

Venezuela's Pride and Protectionism

The Telegraph Venezuela is an oil-rich country yet it's a very poor country. Somebody could go ahead and give every unthinkable reason such as "foreign investments caused it" (a blatant lie) and "It's because America had economic sanctions in Venezuela". Yet, the answer can be found in several causes such as corruption. Yet, China and Vietnam, which can be seen to still have a good amount of corruption, are far more successful. The answer also lies in one policy--economic protectionism . The very idea that a country that first world countries used "protectionism" to succeed is a lie as proven by Venezuela's ongoing crisis. A common-sense examination of one root cause of Venezuela's continuing crisis Forbes magazine mentions this in "What Do Investors Need To Understand About Venezuela's Economic Crisis?" by Nathaniel Parish Flannery on December 21, 2016: Venezuela is far and away the worst-managed economy in the Americas . Ad...
Read more

Davide vs. Mahathir: Which Lolo Should Filipinos Take Economic Advice From?

The real issue isn't that something is old or new. Instead, if something old or new still works, or doesn't work! Many modern laws are built on some ancient principles, while adjusting to the current times!  The Constitution of Japan is actually older than the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. However, it's more effective for the reasons that (1) their constitution is silent when it comes to regulating economic activities (ex., protectionist measures), and (2) it's a parliamentary system. Honestly, it's a pretty straightforward constitution compared to ours! As Mahatir Mohamad turned 100 today, I would like to raise up Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. once again. The problem isn't Davide's age but his unwillingness to embrace change when needed (read here ). This time, it's time to bring up a contrast between wise old people and unwise old people. A young person can be right where the old person is wrong. A young person can be wiser because he or she lea...
Read more

Filipino Manufacturing's Golden Age ENDED Because of the Filipino First Policy

Here's a picture from the Dose of Disbelief Page on Facebook. Here's something that it wrote: Filipinos once trusted locally made products more than imports. Before World War II, the label "Made in the Philippines" carried prestige, not stigma, reflecting a strong sense of national confidence in domestic production. Local products such as shoes, cigars, textiles, furniture, and food were often preferred over imports. This preference was rooted in the belief that local goods were better adapted to local conditions, tastes, and were often of comparable, if not superior, quality. This period showcases a strong historical era of consumer nationalism and thriving local industries. We need to look into the context of Filipino history  If we look at the Philippine history timeline , we must account for 1935-1940, during which the Philippines was under the Commonwealth government. Independence was declared from Spain on June 12, 1898. However, there was a transition period w...
Read more

Confusing Foreign Direct Investment for Foreign Imperialism for the Bajillionth Time

I guess those fools of the Philippine Anti-Fascist League (and many of its deluded supporters) either refuse to get it or are blatantly lying. Almost every rally held by what many believe are CPP-NPA legal fronts also confuses foreign investors for foreign invasion or even foreign imperialism . Once again, do I need to say that 100% FDI ownership is all about the shares and not land ownership ? What makes it even more hypocritical is that they are actually recording these things on imported media . They're sharing their anti-FDI rants using imported devices, imported platforms, and imported social media (read here ). When I do ask them on Facebook, they say how can they take them seriously and that they're "simply forced to participate in capitalism". Did anybody (especially those they call "evil capitalists") force them to buy the expensive Apple equipment when they could've settled for Xiaomi or Huawei?  A simple research on the dictionary will tell us...
Read more