BENIGNO “NOYNOY” AQUINO III and the CORY CONSTITUTION

“The Filipino people have chosen a new President whom they think is honest and humble; and whom they expect would provide them hope and honor. Now what?” my barber asked.

On June 30, 2010, Noynoy Aquino would take the following Oath of Office:

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully and conscientiously fulfill my duties as President of the Philippines, preserve and defend its Constitution, execute its laws, do justice to every man, and consecrate myself to the service of the Nation. So help me God."

It would be good to note that the Oath does not say “I will fulfill all the campaign promises made by our party and our volunteers as well as implement the Party Platform under which I ran.” It would take a while, a lot of effort and most likely too expensive to negotiate with a Trapo Congress whose members have to recover their campaign expenses and prepare for the next election, in order to pass laws realizing them. It just says that President Noynoy will faithfully and conscientiously do the following:

1. fulfill my duties as President of the Philippines;
2. preserve and defend its Constitution,
3. execute its laws;
4. do justice to every man; and
5. consecrate myself to the service of the Nation

In my Facebook notes and in my blog on Noynoy’s presidential run (http://benmaynigo.blogspot.com/2010/05/noynoy-hope-honesty-humilty-honor.html), I explained that consistent with his statement that” there are enough laws already made”, his Platform of Government was and is the CORY CONSTITUTION.

Spiritually, the guide for the Filipino people is either the Holy Bible or the Koran. In fact, we are all encouraged to read it, absorb it and live it. For it is the word of the Sovereign and All Powerful God or Allah.

Materially, the social, political and economic guide of the Filipino people and their chosen leaders is the Philippine Constitution or at this time, aptly described as the CORY CONSTITUTION. We are likewise encouraged to read it, know it, obey it, defend it, enforce and execute it. In fact, “ignorance of it is no excuse”. For it is the word of, by and for the Sovereign Filipino People.

VOX POPULI VOX DEI. The Voice (or Word) of the People is the Voice (or Word) of God.

DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT

Article VII specifically enumerates the duties and correspondingly, powers of President Noynoy. He is encouraged to fulfill and use them to implement the Principles and Policies also enumerated and declared in Article II of the Constitution and all the provisions stated thereby. He must at all times avoid any misuse, abuse, overuse, or even omit to use when deemed necessary.

PRESERVE AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION

The degree of commitment is always commensurate to the degree of responsibility that one has. Correspondingly, the degree of responsibility is always commensurate to the amount of power bestowed upon him. And the amount of power is likewise commensurate to the amount of resources available to him in order to exercise his power, to meet his responsibility and to fulfill his commitment.

As President of the Philippines, Noynoy is provided with tremendous resources – human, material, financial and even spiritual resources, to fulfill his commitment to the Filipino people as specified in the latter’s “Power of Attorney” and “Will” delegating him to preserve and defend it with all the strength and forces he can muster.

A reformed and professionalized Armed Forces and Police Agencies, an equally professionalized Foreign Affairs department, an entire bureaucracy, an Army of volunteers and loyalists and the Filipino people would be at his disposal to preserve and defend the CORY CONSTITUTION.

EXECUTE ITS LAWS

In my KINDLE, IPOD TOUCH, and other handheld devices, I have a Law Library that has all the Philippine Laws and Supreme Court decisions since 1901. All the devices have a search engine that allows me to find anything that is written in any of the eBooks in the library. I am sure that every legal division of every Cabinet Department or Bureau also has access to the same library that I have either offline or online.

To execute the laws, you must know or at least, have access to them. Every Cabinet Secretary should know: first, the Principles and Policies declared in the Constitution and other provisions relating to his or her department; second, all the related Statutes, Rules and Regulations, Department Orders and Regulations, etc. and third, the Jurisprudence relating to his or her department.

Examples:
Communications and Information:
Policy: (Section 24, Article II): “The State recognizes the vital role of communication and information in nation-building.”

What are the laws, executive orders, department regulations, NTC decisions, and the Jurisprudence relate to Communications and Information?

Agrarian Reform:
Policy: (Section 4, Article XIII): “The State shall, by law, undertake an agrarian reform program founded on the right of farmers and regular farm workers who are landless, to own directly or collectively the lands they till or, in the case of other farm workers, to receive a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall encourage and undertake the just distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to such priorities and reasonable retention limits as the Congress may prescribe…….”

What are the implementing laws, orders, regulations, and relevant court decisions that relate to the issue?

DO JUSTICE TO EVERYMAN

I think the advice of F. Sionil Jose in his Open Letter to Noynoy aptly describes it:

“Prosecute the crooks. It is difficult, thankless and even dangerous to do this. Your mother did not do it — she did not jail Imelda who was the partner in that conjugal dictatorship that plundered this nation. Watch her children — they were much too young to have participated in that looting but they are heirs to the billions which their parents stashed abroad. Now the Marcoses are on the high road to power, gloating, snickering at our credulity and despicable amnesia.
You know the biggest crooks in and out of government, those powerful smugglers, thieves, tax cheats — all you really need is guts to clobber them. Your father had lots of it — I hope he passed on to you most of it.
And most of all, now that you have the muscle to do it, go after your father’s killers. Blood and duty compel you to do so. Cory was only his wife — you are the anointed and only son. Your regime will be measured by how you resolve this most blatant crime that robbed us of a true leader.”
On the poor, F. Sionil Jose also to Noynoy, “I say to you, remember, the poor — some of them in your own hacienda — will be your ultimate judge.”

Late President Ramon Magsaysay: “Those who have less in life must have more in law”

It actually means not just individual or personal justice but justice benefiting everyman - not just every Christian but every Muslim as well. It is social justice for all. There can never be a united Philippine Archipelago until our brother Muslims are given the justice they seek and the rights they deserve.

There was a moment in my life when disguised as a Muslim barter trader named Abdul Julkanain, traveling via kumpit (pump boat) in the high seas with my family, chased by pirates but accompanied by Muslim soldiers in order to be freed from the clutches of the Marcos dictatorship. Cared for and fed by the Muslims in the island of Sabah, Malaysia for several months, I said it and meant it then, I say it and still mean it now, “The most Christian I have ever met is a Muslim.”

CONSECRATE MYSELF TO THE SERVICE OF THE NATION

People do not realize it but for me this is the most powerful provision of the Presidential OATH. It means dedicating fully and entirely oneself to the service of the Nation. It is a selfless commitment to the Philippines above and beyond the interest of himself, that of his Kamaganak (family), his party, friends and supporters.

LET US ALL PRAY THAT GOD MAY HELP AND GUIDE NOYNOY!