Rare Periodicals

Parity right amendment to the Constitution [Speech]

Media

Part of The Lawyers Journal

Title

Parity right amendment to the Constitution [Speech]

Creator

Garcia, Carlos P.

Description

The speech delivered is about the parity amendment which requires amending to the Philippine constitution and allowing the U.S. citizens equal rights with Filipinos in the exploitation of our land and natural resources.

Issue Date

XXV (11) November 30, 1960

Publisher

The Lawyers Journal

Year

1960

Language

English

Subject

Speeches, addresses, etc.

Constitutional amendments

Rights

extracted text

PARITY RIGHT AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION THE ISSUE•. GENTLEMEN OF THE CONGRESS: There are moments in. the life of a nation when itl: parliameni ia called upon to deliberate on questions involving the nation's very life and death. There are times when the parliament of the nation determine& queStions that affect the very depth Of ita being and the "t'\9!'y essence of its fundamental national ideals and prineiplea. Saeh a moment has come to thi& Congress. It '\\ill now' decide and determine whether we will 0keep this land of ours and all our natural resources for the Filipino people and for our posterity, or whether we will open it to the acquisition and exploitation of .Amei'icans and other aliens hiding behind American frcmt&. We a.re called to determine whether this natio11al patrimony, thill Mered: heritage for whieh millions of our race have fought, auf. fered and died, shall remain ow·a to keep and preserve, or whether aJien hands will be allowed: to •PPropriate its blessinp. We. aro called upon to decide on this momentous debate whether or not this land of ours will l'emain the cradle and grave, the ·womb and tomb of our race - the only place where we build our homes, our temples and our altars and where we erect the . castles of our racial hopes, dreams, and traditions, and where we establish the warehouse of our happineu and prosperity, of our joys and sorJn short, we will answer the question - shall we PB8B this e~titutional amen.dment, permitting the alienation of our land and reaources to foreigners? ln the mapitude of this tranacend.en.tal question, parties and personalities are lost. Offices, ambi~1 wealth and temporary power become molecular particles lost in the grN.tneaa of the issue. Henee, we have come here only as F-ilipinoa to think with our he81'ts and to determine with our ~ the momentous answer. On this sacred hour, aa we chart the course of the State, after communion with the Spirit of the Nation, and co~tation with our ancestors - our great dead wboM deeds and thoughts and visions were beacon lights of our Past that still illumine our path in the uncharted future, we come to the solemn conclusion that our answer must be No, No an.i No. TEXT OF AMENDMENT The concrete question presented to ou1• considel"ation is whether or not We will amend the Constitution of the Philippines by -appending thereto- a new Ordinance to read aa follows: "The dispoaition, exploitation, development, and utilization of all agi:icultural, timbe1·, Rnd mineral lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, and other natural resources of the Philippinea, and the operation of public utilities, shall, if open to any person, be opm to cieisena of the .Uniled. Sta.tea atid to a.H J01·ms of business .intft"priae owned or conWolled, directly o-r indiuctly, by the Ulftited Sta.tA- citizcma." * We are publishing thi&l speech of Senator Garcia in view of the numerous requests from our subscribers for a copy of the issue of the Lawyers Joumal where this speech was published, and due t.o the laek of back issu"es of the same. RESUME OF PRO ARGUMENTS In popular parla11ee, this is known as the "equal rights" provision. The illuistrious advocates for the acceptanee of this amendment built a formidable batt,ery of contentiona and arcu.ments upon the two fundamental emotions of the hum&'ll heart - hope and fear. They ravish the hope of the Filipino people by painting an Utopia of economic renaissance magically arising out of the wreck a'ILd. ruin of war. They usure us that the approval of this amendment gives our people "usurance of future work: that by this we draw now the _pattern of a national reconstruction to )tel"lllit the development Of a b1•oader, a richer, more productive economy than we.ever had;" that the intent of this amendment was ".simply to invite and eneourap American capital to i~ve~ in the Philippines and aid in our rehabilitation." With mosaic eert,o.inty we are aasured that the paaaing of this am.end, ment to "implement the program that baa been deaicneci will be givinc to the people ol the Philippines alld to oUl' friends and wellwishera throughout the world the signal that we are on our way in a great crusade, eighteen million strong, to reach the haven of economic security which all the world is seeking today." (See Special Meuage of Rous on the Subject). FEARS On the other hand, these adroit proponents of this amendment, these matte1·s ot word-painting, theae adepts in the paychology of the muaea, excite their fear to terrify them into acceptinl' this propoul to ravish our Constitution. They aay that "without this aa.aistance (what we are suppoaed to get if we approve the amendment). we are faced immediately_ by dil88ter.n "Without the helpinc hand thua u:tended to us, we cannot aurvive. n We have t.o accept the executive agreement which impoaed the condition of amendinc our Constitution because "to do otherwise would be to invite economic and final political catastrophe." To thl"ow more gh01Jta into the picture, they further aay "that to seek the elimination of that provision at this time (referi·ing to Section 341 of the Bell Act), would, .be to warn American inveators and American enterprise not to come to the Philippines. That would be auicidal for us. Without "that Investment. we are lost. Our rehabilitation would be imposstbk without such assistance (meanilll' the assistance of American capital expected to flow into the Philippines if and when this amendment is approved). Not content in the raising oi the hobgoblins of fear they evoke the Spectre of death by contending that failure to paas this amendment will automatically terminate t.he trade relation between the Philippines ancf the United States and ·~ will be on a full f'oreip.-duty basis, which means, that the sug8l", tobacco and eoConut oil iridustries will ,be dead; so, too, will be embroideries, pearl, buttons and, 'probably, cordqoe." (See special message of Roxa!!J on the subj~t.) SYNTHESIS Boiling down these arguments to the lowest common denominator, they may· be summarized as follows:· We muat paaa this amendment signing away our national patrimony, for if we do, we hope to have money, trade and bread and plenty of them, and if we don't, we fear we will die of hunger' in ruins and in poNOVember SO, 1960 LA WYERS JOURNAL 323 verty. Indeed, a masterly appeal to our sensual instinct of aelfpreservation - the strategy of modem economiats1 Trae to form, these savants of economics, the youngest cen11t11etjon qt s.n .. cho Panzas eo engroued in their pet adage · th1tt the !lhortest wa:r to the heart is via the stomach, that the:r forgot that men and nati011S do "'.not live br bread alone but by the spirit also. "Non in solo pane vi"vi.t homo aed in omni verbo Dei," was one of the subJimeat truths enunciated by the 1reat realist - Jesus. Yet how often in this complez: materialistic age we take it with contempt! NATIONALIST'S ANSWER To this proaaic line of reaaoniftl', we anawer: (1) That our land is a saared part of the nation, t.he home of the Philippine race, whole value far transcends aatronomkat ficul'E!8 in dollan and pesos, and it must not be alienated and bartered for all· the said of a thouu.nd Samarcand and Bocara. We are more willing and ready to forego rehabilitation, if need be, and tQ suffer poverty, hunger and privatio!lll rather th•n· have the most complete rehabilitation -at the price of our natiqnal he-ritap. On this rock of 'faith the true nationalists stand. (2-) That our freedom which we laave won at tl\e price of supreme sacrifices, is only t,rue and real when its roots strike deen into our own free soil. There is no true freedom that ihrivea on alien.awned soil. So the alienation of our land to fqreignera ia the negation of our freedom. On this rock of conviction we stand. (8) Thai the true n•tionalist11 of the PhilippinmJ have "alwa:re stood, still stand and will forever stand on. the Imperishable • principle of complete .-.i absolute independence, and the nation shall nnw be satisfied until we have the reality and not the mimicry of independence. Freedom of the nation is something we ea111 not evaluate in terms of human pounds and dollars. rt ia aomethin1 of the spirit. It is something far above rehabilitation or reconst.ruetion, dearer than trade, more -valuable than induebies. Indeed, we can never permit our freeJom to be diminished or j~ pardized b:r alienating to foreign hands the land on which the nation's home, shrines and alta1'8 are built, the only land GoJ has given us. On "the rock of this trinity of faith we stand. NATIONAL LONGING Gentlemen of the Congress, on the tablet of Eternity is written our deepest longing to be a free nation, livinc' on our own free Ind, a free master of our destiny. This is the deathless dream of the Philippine race that remains unaltered t.hl'OUl'hout the surging centuries of events and changea. We must attain" and realize it, coat what it may. If to attain it we have to renounce American. aid in rehabilitation and constl'uction, if to attain it we have to forfeit our trade relations with America, if to attain it we have to forego all loans and aasiatanee we neecl ao badly, if to attain it we will ha'8" to deny ouraelYea of the comforts of life, we will decidedly and freely choose to renounce all these rather than renounce our freedom atid our land. MA.JORITY DEFEATISM v- In one Of the greatest lapses to defeatism ever recorded, the majority predicts "disaster," "economic and political eatas:trophe," "suicide and death, n if we refuse to amend the constitution which ia said to be the Me qar.c non for American aid. To me, this ia a double-barreled dander leveled against both Filipino.a and Americans. Because, how can we believe that the American people ao well known for their sense of fairneu and justice will ever deny us fqnds for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the verJ' cities, towns and induatriq destroyed. by thel11 own ~ and guns, just because we refuse to do that which th91 tbemsel:vw would never do? Who will ever doqbt for a moment that the American sense of honor will ever take baek her plighted word to reimburse our people of all expen•ea incuned to keep alive here the Reeistance Movement against Japan just becauee we do not grant them that which they would never grant &DJ' nation! b it conceivable that a puod tl'ader like UlLOle Sam will ever elose trade relation with the Filipinos who atood steadfastly and loyally by them in the direst and darkest· hour of peril, just because we refuse to do that which they themsel:na -.-ould consider a ridicul~ indjgnitJ'! I do not know what othen think, but as for me, no matter what we do with our constitution, we ean depend upon American Justice, upon .American honor, and American gratitude, to do ua and give us,. what help we deserve, amen.iment or no amendment. To me it is abaolutely unfair and unjust for the majority to repreaent thai America will help 1111 only wtien we give them our reaouree11. Rather than let our cause depend on the shifting sand a common bargain,' let us rest our case on the eternal principles of justice and the American people will gin us both - justice and rehabilitation. The insinuation is likewime a slander against the Filipino people, because nobody acquainted with the catutrophea and. calamitiea and perils our nation einale-handed and alone has IODe through an:I survived through, can and will ever believe that without America's half a billion dqllara we will p unct.-. (kid knows how deep in the abyss of distresa we had f.Uen. dqriq Lhe three years of the most bloody and the most brutal enemY oecupation. God knows the peril_ and hunger our people in the provinces survived th~ugh in that lone night of our fall. We djd survive through tlie .devaat.tinc war against 4merlea and on ita wreck and ruins, w~ did build apin our national nna.llffnce. We went throqh and aurvived through the hell of 300 revolution, against Spain aJLd each time we fell, we rose from the .t.ahea Of defeat to renew the good fight. Yes, through theu long ~ra of untold sufferinp, of teJ&rl and blood, of fire an4 floc>d. the Philippines still survives, and has gained 0in strength IPld stamina, in sturdiness and fearlessneu, giving us the fullest con.fidence and asaurance that without American aid, and loans an"d trades, and what not, We can and. v.ill survive, because God has given us a tryst with Destiny. EXECUTIVE FAITHLESSNESS "Without the helping hand thus extended to us, we cannot survive," so said the hig'heat eucutiv8 of the land. How little faith our President baa in hi1 people's capacity tQ alU'riTel A'Dd )'et no people on earth has passed throueh more bitter tests -.cl tliala and has shown more magnificent power of endurance and su1-rival than the Filipinos. We have given the moat abundant evidences of national survival, I am proud tO say. So I am convinced. from the innermost core of my heart. President Roxas notwithstanding, that there is absolutely no ground to doubt that with or without American aid, the Philippine nation shall live forevet" to fulfill its hi~h miss.ion assiped by Destiny. Why then are we afraid to SQ" NO to America in answer to a request which. she herself v.-ould ban answered NO with • mighty blow? Are you not ashamed to own independence and proc)aim sovereignty and then admit our incapacity to survive through these moments of distresi; if half a billion dollars' aid is denied us? Since when have natiO'D&l honor and dignity fallen in value lower than trade and bread? How and why should the highest interest of freedom. and patria be •laced below the pasaing intenst of econoMics? Anewer these queationa honestly, gentlemen of the majority, and your conscience and my conscience, and the conscience of our people will meet on the common ground that there shall lie no D•f•stiam. no Dieaetleriam. no economic CCltcsatropltiem in our national foreign policy. Our forellft poliey" must be founded. on the cornerstone of Faith and Confidence in ourselves ao We ea.n conunand the confidence of the world. That policy must stand pat two-fisted on the principle that our independence la abaolute and lndhiaible. The only foreign policy R&tiafaelory to our people is that which rejects outright all deals and bargains that involve as consideration our land, or our honor, or our freedom. If we must have the love and conf"tdence of the American people we WI11 not get it by stooping to indi1Ditiea; we wilt not pt it by cowering servility or fear to face and fight the dangeis in the adventu~s path of true and free nationhood. ... LA WYERS JOURNAL November SO. 1960 Let u1, thm'efore, atrikr. out a course in. foreign relations characterized with manly independence and self-reliance, Let us give notice to the wol'ld that we &l'e not afraid to suffer in a few fleeting moment.e of distress and hardships to gain an eternity of joy in freedom. LEt it be known that our uew republic is unafraid to '"be in the high seas· taking her chances with wind and wave and star; and that it is the considered determination of this nation rather to go down in glory and grandeur of the the storm than to rot in a "haven ol the economic secu.1·ity" out of foreign alms, foreip loans and :Coreign charity. SPIRITUAL RESERVOIR Gentlemen of the Congress, this is not an extemporaneous nutburst. Of an: enthusiast. It is no foamy chatte1· ol inesponsibility. [t is. the considered. opinion of thousands ol Filipinos who know that deep in the soul of our nation therfl is enough endurance and reaiatanee to conquer all sufferings and ha1-dships, there is enou1h faith and power to succeed and triumph. There lies in the soul of our nation an infinit• Spirittial Resei-voir deep and fathomless, the sum total Of all our dreams and deeds, our faith and achiev~ menta, our hopes and loves, and even our mistakeJ and mia•Jeeds - all of theaei ac:eumulated into a mi1hty force beyond human ken to measure. ' • LOVE OF NATIVE LAND First and foremost is the Filipinu's love of hia native lan:.1. This pddeas alone, if we stop to think about it, has wrought won«141rs recorded i.n the Old Testament Of our pasti and will yet ·work grander and greater mh·acles to be w1itten in the New Testllment of our independent nationhood. Take away the native land around which cluster the vines of love of a young ardenti patdot, pasa it t.o &DJ" alien . hand, be it .friendly, and there would bl" no more Lapulapu who stood like a rock in defense of Mactan, there would be no more Soliman whose heroic nationalism still lives In songs and romances and still inspires the L1J11.as and Amo1·solos, there would be no more Dagohoy whHe revolt for neariy a century write& in characters of Cold the rumred, patriotism o:i our race. Take a.Way Calambs'., Bifian, Dapitan and the emerald isJes of the Visayas from the etei'llal ioves of the hero-poet, and there would be no more Rizal who would stand on that peak of glory called Bagumbayan to proclaim unafraid before the guns and cannons of the mighty th& aspiration of his i·ace. Take away the smallest portion of this land that has been justly called the brightest pm in Orient Seas, and there wood be no more Bonlfacios, del Pilan and Quezons who would be willing to give up all that they had and all that they were for their native land. Take awqr these ·Alpine height.a of valor and heroism, called Corregidor and Bataan, and there would be no more of those thousands upon thousands of the Youth and flowei• Of our nation who hurried to their post of duty, be it death, even as the stars hasten to the east to die in the glorj- of morning light. It ia thia love of the native land that inspires the great sonp of our poeta and the immortal creation of Our artist.a. It is tha.t power which turns the wheels of industries to weave the fabric of our wealth, and makes our farma heave and awell with bounteous b&l"V81t. It is the same spirit that swells the sails of our ships which plow across the waves homeward bound laden with our wealth aud our hopes. After all, banks, eommerclal houses, institutions And nan churehe.s find their true use and meaning and derive their existence from that exhaustless spirit we call love ol our 11ative land. Alienate the object of that love and tiiere only reJD&ins darkness - death. What then, I ask, is the good of the rehabilitation and reconstruction Of the Philippines when the price we have to paJ' for it is our whole national patrimony - our native land! What does it. profit 111 to have trade, loans, reliefs, lurplus goods, and all those things that give us• the illusion of material ease a.nd comfort, when the price we pay for them is nothing Ieu than our national heritage? The question of the Master is now pertinently addressed to the Filipinos. Quid onim prodest homini si mundwn univenum lucretur; animae vere suae detrimentum patiaturt For what is a man profited, if he ahall gain the whole world and lose his own soul! LOVE OF FREEDOM In the alchemy of that Spiritual Reservoir of the nation we also find. love of freedom a potent generator of noble deeds. What olmoat incredible achievements we have attained with that magical mightl With that spiritual po-..-er we scaled and conquered the Rocky Mountain rangea of 1U1to)d hardships and sufferinp. We went through the Valley of a thous&nd deaths to prove our worth and worthiness, untill the Sun of Freedom, after a long ni1ht that seemed eternity to ilS, finally rose gloriously in our eastern akiea. At last our land is free. But, alas I if we aliente this land for alien use and expli>itation, that frJedom becomes· a mockin1 U· lusion instead of a beautiful reality. He. who controls our nat11ral i-esourcea definitely controls our economy - even our government. A surrender of our land to alien capital is a surrender of om freedom. Take away this dynamic and mystic element catted the love of freedom by alienating our native land to foreicners, and you have deprived. our people of the"lever that lifted this nation and will rat lift her to the sun-kissed pinnacles of glory. Keep it by hugging to the land that pve lta birth, and J'OU can be sure that the problems of rehabilitation, trade, national i-eeovery and others that ail our people and afear our defeatists . are eaiP.Iy un, ravelled even as the sunbeams Yanisla the clouds. Bow truly has it been said, 0 that coming from the infinite sea of the future. there will never touch this 'bank and shoal of time' a riche1 gl..ft, a rarer blesai11& than liberty for man, WOJD&1L and for child." FEARS NOT FACTS Juat one more argument and I am thl'OU8'h. The eloquent defenders of the amendment in their frantic effort to blackout the leuons of history, invoke the self-denying reconl of America here and through their chief spokesman pontificate: "I wish to emphasize again and again that all the arcuments that have been made against this provision have been based not on facts ' but on fears. I refused to be frightened by the ghost of imperialism." Brave man this. But, frankly, what impresses me more is not the Rooaeveltian anphasis but the ability to shut his efff oatrfok-ltke to the stark lessons of history and then wheedle hi:t people to balk in. a fool's pa.""adiae. But ·We must 'insist tliat onlJ" leara we have are those based on facts - historical facts. Pro1I»8Ction is poaaible only by retrospection, We see forward by lookiq backward. Foresight looks thr0ugh the glasaea of hindai&'ht. LESSONS OF HISTORY Let us be realistic- - brutally realistic if you wish, and ex.nm.Int: a ff!!W papa of recent history written in the blood and tears of the naive and the candid, just to prove our thesis by the cimpirieal way that all big capitals· whether English, American, or German are monopolistic and, therefllre, imperialistic. Did not Me.xieo in 1823 rejoice under the protection of the Monroe Doct.rine and in 1848 ceded an empire succumbing to the irresistible 11nd imperialistic might of .her protector? Doea not the dollar imperialism o.l Wall Street now control the domestic economy of Cuba, and indirectly her politics also? The very country who helped he1· in the fight for liberation now places her under economic "p1"0tective custody." All the naive and trusting countries of the Carribea.n, whfoh of them has escaped from the insatiable t·on~piscene of imperialistic capital? Let us not talk of Hawaii for that is a back number in modern geopolitics. Korea, was she not a protege of Japan in 1907 and a hostage in 1911 'l What of Persia and half a dozen principalities in Asia Minor, have thQ not first been cuddled in the protecting arms of seductive capitalism only to end finally as economic vassals? Gentlemen, 1 have no desire to t8Jl more your induicence, b;y delving too long into the gloomy but ilistruetive chambers of history. I only want to wind up by saying, Itt's stop klddinrr ourselves. Let's atop be;ng :fun.DJ' by pretending that we have the (Continued n fJ&fJ• 862) November 80, 1960 LA WYEllS JOURNAL