Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Volume 2, Number 26              August 4-10,  2002            Quezon City, Philippines







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COMMENTARY

An Orgy of Constitutional Contempt

It pains me that many of us are still harboring the illusion that what we have is a good Constitution, that it is worth preserving. But every freaking day, the Arroyo regime is showing us otherwise.  

By Carlos Conde
Bulatlat.com

I HAVE a suggestion that every Filipino who deserves to be called a Filipino should do ASAP: destroy your copy of the Philippine Constitution. Better yet, as soon as you wake up in the morning, when your breath still stinks and when your saliva is still thick with the germs that have accumulated in your mouth the night before, take out the Constitution and spit on it, then flush it down the toilet.  

If you run out of toilet paper, use the Constitution. That should be the most memorable crapping you'll ever take.  

If your child suddenly decides he is going to take a crap, tear a page or two from the Constitution and lay these down on the floor and have your child squat over them. It should be the most meaningful toilet training you could ever give your child.  

If you feel that a sneeze is coming along, whip out your Constitution and use its pages to wipe the snot off your nose. The book should work just as well in cleaning the goo of Gerber from your child's face.  

If you happen to be at the wet market, tell the fish vendors there to use the Constitution to wrap their fish with. The fish would be immensely proud.  

If you are a bored office worker who just happens to buy a new shredder, test the machine by feeding the Constitution into it. As the torn pages roll out of the machine, try to see if you can still read the words "sovereignty" in it. If you can, shred the torn pages one more time for good measure.  

If your janitor runs out of old Philippine Daily Inquirer copies to put the sheen back on your glass windows, panels, and table tops, by all means give him the Constitution. It should work just as well as that rag, probably even better.  

If on a weekend you have nothing else to do, go out of your house, relax under the tree - and think of ways to destroy, desecrate, and de-whatever the Philippine Constitution. The Arroyo regime is doing it, so we might as well do our part in this grand orgy of constitutional contempt and be good citizens, lest we be accused of being communists.  

By doing any or all of these, we are contributing to nation-building. We would be giving ideas to Malacaņang on how to do the job of de-whatever-ing the Constitution.  

It pains me that many of us are still harboring the illusion that what we have is a good Constitution, that it is worth preserving. But every freaking day, the Arroyo regime is showing us otherwise.  

The regime is bending over backwards in defending the U.S. military from allegations that the Americans violated the terms of reference of the Balikatan exercise - and, thus, the Constitution - when one of its troops allegedly shot a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf during a raid where U.S. troops should be off-limits.  

Instead of promising to look into the matter, the Arroyo regime fought its critics tooth and nail, at least propaganda-wise, in defending the U.S.  

The regime is also railroading the approval of the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement, which could potentially violate the Constitution and definitely gives the finger to sovereignty.  

Speaking of sovereignty, the U.S. government wishes to do away with any reference to sovereignty in a supposedly anti-terrorism pact it is pushing at the ASEAN. Guess what the regime thinks of this?  

And, lest we forget, the regime raided the opposition by giving positions to such political turncoats and opportunists as Blas Ople, clearly in violation, at least of the spirit, of the constitutional principle of checks and balances.  

In the face of all this contempt toward the one thing that's supposed to protect us from the assault on our nationhood, what are we to do? Either we rise up and take to the streets or, in the morning, when you feel your bladder about to explode, take out your copy of this joke marked "The Philippine Constitution" and piss on it.  Bulatlat.com


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