Pantas, pamantasan, and progress for the Filipino people (Part 2): Voices of protest and calls for reform

For weeks now, protests have been held in universities and on the streets against corruption, culminating in activities scheduled for September 21 at EDSA and Luneta. According to Ferdinand Marcos Jr., he would join the rallies if he were not commander-in-chief, but even without him, the heavy patrolling and implementation of maximum tolerance by his young police officers, who are arrogant towards anyone, especially the president (taas-noo kahit kanino lalo sa pangulo), will continue.

Some will scream, “Marcos, resign.” In my former professor’s social media post, he said that they should be challenged to shout instead of “Marcos, Duterte, resign,” and when they eat kwek-kwek, that would not be a genuine cry but a fake one.

If there are inundations of rainwater, corruption, fire (among the ones I have seen constantly being set on fire in Happy Land in Tondo, Manila), there will also be a flood of protests (baha ng protesta). Their rallying cry: Enough 2x, lock up, and return the money (tama na, sobra na, ikulong na, at ibalik ang pera).

Some legislators from the upper and lower Houses are simply guilty in the court of public opinion, with public pressure mounting and bringing down their leaders: Chiz Escudero out, Tito Sotto in; Martin Romualdez out, Bojie Dy in.

Still with pay, though.

The always cheated taxpayers will still shell out money-maker law-maker salaries, including the sky-high ones (sahod nang sahod na abot-langit) of Rep. Zaldy Co (even if he has gone into hiding in America or is receiving medical treatment there), Senators CLTG/Bong Go, fellow Duterte collaborator and secretary of public works and highways (DPWH) Mark Villar, Joel Villanueva, and Jinggoy Estrada, who are actively investigating ghost flood control projects in aid of legislation (and election).

Students, professors, and university administrators are very cognizant of the unabated corruption, and so they will match the noise they make on social media on the streets this Sunday, the anniversary of Marcos Sr.’s declaration of Martial Law. It must be a peaceful assembly (“the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances”) enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.

Netizens love the way Kartunista Zach and other artists put it with lines like: “Police: Do you have a permit to rally?; Rallyists: Do politicians have a permit to steal?” (Pulis: May permit to rally ba kayo?; Rallyists: May permit bang magnakaw ang mga pulitiko?).

They will “focus only on the fight against corruption …(While) other groups may join the protest action, its organizers reminded that the rallies will only focus on that single agenda.” (“Universities, student groups back ‘Trillion Peso March’ on Sept. 21,” GMA Integrated News).

The avenue (or one of the…): EDSA

The first two sections of Article XIII – Social Justice and Human Rights of the 38-year-old charter provide: “(Sec. 1) Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good… (Sec. 2) The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.”

It’s good when wealth and political power are shared for the good of the majority. What occurred recently was for the good of kleptomaniacal politicians, DPWH contractors, and their “nepo babies.” So here we are at Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, and as it is about to erupt again, let’s review some distinctive characteristics of EDSA I and II:

As I wrote once using the jurisprudence on extra- and intra-constitutionality, we unseated Marcos Sr. via the People Power revolution in 1986 when we felt we had “enough” of his dictatorship and that social justice had to be served that way. Record-high cases were filed in relation to highly perceived human rights violations of his martial rule but before that, we needed to make it extra-constitutional and defy the 1973 Constitution or Saligang “Butas” as it permitted a 20-year rule of a president and nobody knew if the Imeldific First Lady, Marcos Jr., General Ver, or Enrile would later succeed him; definitely not Ninoy Aquino who was murdered by the Marcos regime in 1983.

Joseph “Erap” Estrada, father of winning-losing-and-winning-again Senators Jinggoy and JV Ejercito, became the second Philippine leader ousted by Edsa Dos in 2001. It was intra-constitutional this time, meaning the freedoms of speech, expression, the press, and peaceful assembly were used in accordance with the 1987 Constitution. The three branches of government supported VP GMA’s ascent to the presidency. Erap, who would later be a convicted plunderer, resigned. The resignation “cannot be doubted” as it was “confirmed by his leaving Malacañang,” which is the seat of power, according to the 13-0 decision of the Supreme Court.

Check out this particular column’s first part at https://tutubi.ph/pantas-pamantasan-and-progress-for-the-filipino-people/.

MUST Collaboration

“Our researchers must respond to the (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals), because the SDGs aim to make life more bearable, especially to those who are excluded,” said Fr. Danny Pilario, CM as Adamson and Minghsin University of Science and Technology (MUST) partnered for the bold future of education.

The expansion of scholarships and student exchanges, semiconductor research, student training on advanced manufacturing, and deep partnerships with industry players have been ensured by the two universities. MUST VP for International Affairs Dr. Lee Chi-Ho told the attendees of the two-day academic forum this September, “Today marks not only an anniversary but also the beginning of a new chapter in our shared journey of learning, innovation, and growth.”

Dr. Cheng-Hsun Tony Chang, Dr. Hsin-Chiao Yang, Dr. Tien-Tzu Sheng, and the Philippines’ Board of Investments (BOI) Executive Director Ma. Corazon Halili-Dichosa presented lectures during the “Transformative Link: A Semiconductor Knowledge Forum.”