"Protect Our National Patrimony." --VP

Vice President Teofisto Guingona has urged the Filipino youth to protect our national patrimony. Speaking before the participants of a summer youth camp, he said:

“Stand up against the attempts to open up our land, mineral and marine resources for foreigners and rich multinational corporations can come in and exploit our national patrimony.

“Because you, our youth, are idealistic and visionary, you have the power and the potential to build the future not only of your family but also of the community and the nation.”

The Vice President issued the call amid shameless attempts by our lawmakers to push for Charter change through an obviously self-serving process: a constituent assembly (Con-Ass). Through this procedure, the Congress convenes itself into a body that has the power to amend the Constitution.

We must heed Guingona’s call. Let us oppose Cha-cha and expose it proponents. There are many ways: by expressing our opinion in the media, be it in our campus papers, in our blogs, or in the national dailies; joining anti-Cha-cha mobilizations by cause-oriented groups; and letting our friends and families know about the Vice President’s call.

Writing in his June 6 column about the Guingona’s opposition to a Con-Ass, Rotary Club of Manila Journalism Hall of Fame awardee Teodoro Benigno says:

“He stands on a little hill of his own, solitary, pensive, a wan smile on his face when he is challenging the Furies. Perhaps he is the only prominent Filipino politician today who refuses to compromise his convictions or principles. Just lately, Vice President Teofisto Guingona dared the grand panjandrums of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) to boot him out because of his opposition to Con-Ass (Constituent Assembly).

“He may not be electable as president of the Philippines. But this is not the point anymore. Even if Tito Guingona runs and does not win, he will fill a vacuum. There is a crying need for a leader who has courage, who can scramble up and down the hills with just the Philippine flag jutting from his body, who will not stop marching even if they shoot his flag full of holes. This is a fight that has to be fought, not just by the Left, but by civil society. We need a new Claro Recto whose nationalism, whose intellectual luminosity lit many dark corners of the national existence.”

Quotes from the PhilStar.com.