Official Statement of the Highest Academic Policy-making Body of U.P. Diliman, on the Constituent Assembly

Entitled “No to GMA’s Illegal Constituent Assembly”, the following is the official statement of the U.P. Diliman University Council on the constituent assembly to change the Constitution, approved by the body yesterday. The University Council is the highest academic policy-making body of the autonomous units. It is composed of all assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors; and is chaired by the Chancellor. I attended yesterday’s University Council meeting. Upon deliberation by the body, this was the statement approved on the floor. The official printed copy was released today by the Secretariat of the University Council, and I received this today in the email from the Secretariat.

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NO TO GMA’S ILLEGAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

A Statement of the University Council of the University of the Philippines Diliman

On the eve of her supposedly final state of the nation address (SONA), the feeble attempt of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her allies to change the Constitution shows that she is planning to stay in power even beyond 2010 so that she can enjoy immunity from suit.

At the height of the Garci scandal, the University Council (UC) on July 13, 2005 called for her immediate resignation. And on February 28, 2008, the University Council, in the face of massive corruption in GMA’s administration and unsolved extrajudicial killings, unanimously approved a resolution telling GMA it was time to go. To this day, GMA continues to ignore calls from various sectors of society for her to step down.

Today, with 345 days left to her term, GMA and her allies are not preparing to leave office. They are instead preparing to change the Constitution in order to, among others, lift term limits.

House Resolution No. 1109 which seeks to convene the House of Representatives (HOR) into a constituent assembly shows that in the next few days, GMA and her allies would try to prolong her rule. The brazen manner in which this is being done is manifested by the House Speaker’s pronouncement that immediately after the SONA, the HOR would convene itself into one, with or without the Senate and with or without public approval.

Any attempt to change the Constitution at this time could result in the amendment or revision of the following contentious issues: term limits of the President and members of Congress; the date of the elections, or whether such elections would be held; change in the form of government from presidential to parliamentary.

The attempt of GMA to remain in power and to escape accountability is an affront to the values that we hold dear in the University: public accountability, transparency, honor, and excellence in service. There now exists political uncertainty as the public is unaware of what will happen between now and May 2010 when elections are supposed to be held. There is no justice in a situation where an extension of her immunity from suit would bar any prosecution when her term as President expires on June 30, 2010.

In the hundred-and-first year of the University, the University Council of UP Diliman reiterates its call for public accountability, and renews its commitment to work for a just and progressive society. We in the University Council oppose all attempts of GMA and her allies to convene an illegal constituent assembly and to prolong her rule. The people should freely choose leaders that would truly represent the people’s interests.

U.P. Diliman University Council, 20 July 2009

UNIVERSITY COUNCIL SECRETARIAT

University of the Philippines Diliman

Office of the University Registrar (3/Floor)

Phone 981-8500 ext. 4558, 4554

Fax 927-6084; Mobile 09199464416