Makati City, the financial capital of the Philippines, is the venue for today’s main rally against the moves of pro-administration lawmakers to turn Congress into a constituent assembly (ConAss) that will amend the Philippine Constitution.
If you’re outside the Philippines and would like to participate in the rallies online, or keep yourself updated on developments, you may check out the live blog and live audio stream of alternative Philippine news site Bulatlat.com.
It’s already a cliche to talk about the apathy of the youth, but blogger and Philippine House of Representatives congressman Raymond “Mong” Palatino would be the first to dispute this.
Not only did Kabataan Partylist, of which he is president and top nominee, make history as the country’s first elected youth group to win a seat in Congress under the partylist system, but Palatino is also the first blogger to become a national legislator in the Philippines.
As Filipinos saw last night, the true test of digital tools is when they are used by citizens to defend democracy and keep information flowing.
Mainstream media was virtually prevented–or perhaps in some cases, unwilling–from doing a live coverage of the House of Representatives plenary debate on amending the Philippine Constitution that lasted deep into the stormy night. New Media, however, kept Filipino Netizens informed (search for #conass on Twitter and Plurk) as the pro-administration majority used their numbers to railroad the approval of House Resolution No. 1109, which would allow Congress to convene into a constitutional assembly (ConAss) and amend the Philippine Constitution.
