Feet tired. Back aching, I just want to sleep but first let me just share some photos. I arrived from Makati two hours ago joining forces with various groups that protested the plan of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s allies in Congress to rewrite the Constitution. The No To Con Ass rally wasn’t as big as the last interfaith rally I attended a year ago. What it lacked in numbers is compensated by the number of Facebook users that joined the STOP CON-ASS cause. Starting at 19,000 users before the program started, there is now 24,290 users and escalating every hour. That’s almost 6,000 users joining the “online rally” in a span of 3 hours.
This online cause is also a good platform to show “people’s indignation against Con Ass” even though its supporters are not present in the rallies.
Online campaigns give lasting results as it continues on every day even if there are no physical rallies. In the Facebook discussion group where I am an administrator, members talk about the pros and cons of charter change. It now has over 1300 posts and 30 discussion topics.
The Traitors Gallery: The mug shots of the Congressmen who approved HR 1109 Resolution to convene a constituent assembly
(Mug Shots of Congressmen Nograles and Mikey Arroyo.
Carlo Ople agrees with me that physical rallies end when they are finished.
This, I think, is the biggest weakness of physical rallies. When the crowd disperses, the event ends, especially if there were only a few or an average number of attendees. Other succeeding rallies are usually treated as separate efforts and they don’t really all add up in terms of metrics.
And that I think is one of the strongest qualities of Virtual Rallies. The moment a person joins, he’s in it for the long haul. The count is cumulative regardless of the time and space. As long as the website is up and running, people will be counted. That’s the reason why the Facebook Cause against Con Ass is already nearing 30,000 sign-ups. Imagine if we give it more time? That number will continue to grow and eventually might even end up more than 100,000.
What is more effective in pushing for a cause? An unsure attendance of 6,000-15,000 in a rally in Makati or a virtual representation of more than 100,000?
In the meantime, join the Facebook No to Con-Ass Group to discuss the opposition of the Constituent Assembly.
Watch this short video of the rally in Makati
Facebook No To Con-Ass Campaign
At the Monitoring Center (Starbucks at Corner Ayala and Paseo De Roxas), we watched as Facebook users joined the online rally and the Facebook causeSTOP CON-ASS.
Noli Benavent, Creator of the Facebook Cause
Toots Ople who organized the First Facebook EB on No To Con-Ass
My daughter and her boyfriend, Marco joins the Facebook Cause
Congressman Ruffy Biazon signs up as well
Photo Gallery
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walang kwena yang con ass na yan… pasabugin na lang ang kamara,, kung anu2 ang mga naiisip nila,, marami naman dapat harapin at mas importanteng mga bagay… dapat yun ang unahin nilla!!!!!!!!1
mas importante na humaba tenure nila yata.
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wag iboto ang mga traidor na mga kongresista na ito!!
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For me, Mrs Macapagal Arroyo is a MEGALOMANIAC!
Sana yung “internet rally” natin lumaki kasi gumawa ako ng google search sa internet, wala naman ako makitang forums na umaabot ng higit 100 posts.
Sana din di nila maaprobahan ang sinusulong ni Loren na Anti-Internet pornography act kasi may “censorship” yon. Kung maaprobahan yan, bibigyan ng technolohiya at authoridad ang gobyerno natin na kalikutin ung mga ISPs natin (PLDT DSL, Smart Bro, etc) na harangin ang mga websites na hindi maganda sa imahe ng gobyerno (kahit na hindi related sa pornography) at pwede na nila ma-pinpoint ang mga nagbo-blog sa internet na “mapanirang” statements laban sa gobyerno.
Think it’s impossible, Hundreds of Americans were sued for Copyright infrigement of music in the US (although it’s not entirley accurate or reliable). It will happen in the philippines if the government starts to police the internet with one simple law.
if you check this facebook group, there are a lot of comments on con-ass
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=88684019421&ref=mf
Thanks for this info, we’re out of the country so we didn’t have any access or reports from the Phil. Glad to know this news.
I will be back here.
Sana yung “internet rally” natin lumaki kasi gumawa ako ng google search sa internet, wala naman ako makitang forums na umaabot ng higit 100 posts. Sana din di nila maaprobahan ang sinusulong ni Loren na Anti-Internet pornography act kasi may “censorship” yon. Kung maaprobahan yan, bibigyan ng technolohiya at authoridad ang gobyerno natin na kalikutin ung mga ISPs natin (PLDT DSL, Smart Bro, etc) na harangin ang mga websites na hindi maganda sa imahe ng gobyerno (kahit na hindi related sa pornography) at pwede na nila ma-pinpoint ang mga nagbo-blog sa internet na “mapanirang” statements laban sa gobyerno. Think it’s impossible, Hundreds of Americans were sued for Copyright infrigement of music in the US (although it’s not entirley accurate or reliable). However, the ISPs and the internet users are fighting back cause by itself, it violates the right of privacy. However in the Philippines, our ISPs are not willing to protect our privacy from the goverment and are more than willing to give all our access logs, surfing habits and private data to the authorities once this law is in place. They can even ban websites, blogs, and social networking accounts that voices opposition to the government interests. We know how the government abuses its own authority against the filipino people and is willing to take the fight against us online.
BASAHIN NINYO MUNA KUNG ANO ANG CON ASS
half the people here saying NO TO CON-ASS dont even know what it does what it isall they know is that it’s “BAD”…why is it bad? cuz the TV SAID SO, CUZ PEOPLE ARE RALLYING AND THEYRE ALL MAD AND YELLING….that LADIES AND GENTS is what you call ****PROPAGANDA****(((((DEFINITION of PROPAGANDA: 1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. )))…so here let me shed some light on you guys as to WHAT CON-ASS Really IS
http://jlp-law.com/blog/house-resolution-1109-re-constitutional-amendment-or-revision/
most of you are saying NO CON ASS cuz it will prolong Gloria’s reign as president but in CLEAR LETTERS it completely says the opposite. So give me another argument as to why NO TO CON ASS and dont tell me cuz Gloria and his Tao-han will prolong their reign in the Cabinet.
dont accuse me of having some congress dude relative cuz i for sure can tell you ….i dont.
You are insulting the intelligence of your fellow countrymen.
There is nothing wrong with charter change but the timing is all wrong, all done just 11 months before the 2010 elections. I don’t trust GMA , her allies and their motives to rush the amendments. Maybe you don’t fully comprehend that the change to parliamentary form of government is one way to extend her term and so with her allies.
She said she wouldnt run in 2004 but she did. HR1109 also says she won’t but even her own lawyer does not deny that she might extend her stay.
I was also old enough to remember pre-martial law days when President Marcos said he had no plans to implement martial law. He also manipulated the constitution to make him stay in power for a very long time.
It was in railroading the passage of an ill-willed resolution, dismissing dissent, and playing numbers games that the possibility of “Gloria Forever” becomes a haunting specter. More than “Gloria Forever,†the railroading and ramming through of HR 1109 is a clear indication that the public interest is secondary to personal political interests, or at the very least, ill-defined ones.
More than “Gloria Forever,†more than the compromising of sovereign territory, and more than technical squabbling on the form of government we’ll have, the railroading of HR 1109 is an exercise of shame. It is what politics in this country has degenerated into: the tyranny of deceit, the rule of disrespect, the noise of impunity, and the triumph of ignominy. What you did was a clear violation of the dignity of this nation. What you did was to kill democracy. We refuse to be represented by those who demonstrate that kind of politics. (http://notoconass.com)
why don’t you join the thousands who discuss this online? The opposition is not just in physical rallies but online as well
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=88684019421&ref=mf
I don’t trust all ANY of them 😀
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great rhetorics Noemi…how can one make you believe when you have limited yourself –that you dont trust Gloria. You are no different from those who see all wrong about Gloria. I used to join street rallies before but i cant sympathize with those who are doing it now.. sorry but i really cant…am not a fan of Gloria but i wish that she finished her term and not join the someimes l TV-reporters- choreographed street protest shouting for Gloria annihilation.
Who is saying I won’t allow her to finish her term. I WON”T ALLOW HER TO EXTEND HER TERM after 2010 that’s why I am making sure this con-ass won’t convene before the elections.
all of my beliefs are based on her track record. Surveys prove that the majority Filipinos don’t trust her and that was even before HR 1109 was approved.
Never again!
now what are the pros of the constituent assembly under Gloria’s term? Explain the measures to ensure she won’t abuse her term especially when Congress railroaded its approval. It’s suspicious.
Never again will allow a traitor to rule this country. Ikaw siguro, gusto mo yan. But me, no way and I will fight for what is right.
i fully agree with what Andy wrote here. Am quite diismayed to see Roman Catholic nuns among others who are supposed to be educated and learned are joining the fray telling that it will prolong Gloria’s term. Magbasa naman sana sila..hindi naman lanat na sumang ayon doon ay tuta ni Gloria.
To ABS CBN thru TFC na napaoanood ko dito sa Riyadh, .be objedctive in reporting. To sensationalized your reporting, nag cho choriographed pa ng backdrop yung reporters nyo. Seen this myself sa Welcome Rotunda. Kaya siguro ganun na lang ang pagtutol nyo sa Right to Reply Bill. As viewer ng mga news report nyo parang wala nang nagawang tama si Gloria. Again be objective.
I fully agree with you…most of those who are attending the rally have not even read what these congresmen were proposing . They just relied on those propaganda spread by those who dont like Gloria – the name they capitalized for their ulterior motives. I have read the Congressmen’s but nowhere that there is extension of term for public officials including the President ..and the Presidential Election will not be cancelled. I cant figure out why even some of the religious who are supposed to be learned and educated people are joining the fray spreading lies.
Go, Noemi, go. You’re really a mover and a shaker.
Will join the virtual rallies from now on, although I joined the No to con ass cause at FB. I guess, true to form, I was really in the dark what to do.
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edit typo:
I don’t trust ANY of them
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hindi kami papayag na bagohin
ninyo ang saligang batas…
No to con ass!!!
no to cha-cha
isa ka pa!
Hello Naomi,
I agree sa ilan mong arguments about virtual rallies and physical rallies. Sa virtual rallies, forever nang nakatatak yung pangalan ng taong sumali doon. Tama yun, pero virtual din ang effect nuon.
Kailangan pa rin natin ng physical movement ng tao. Mga taong kikilos para itigil ang kalokohang ito.
Siguro ang strength ng virtual rallies ay para ipakita lage sa mga politicos na hidi tayo tumitigil sa pag-monitor ng kalokohan nila. Na kahit di tayo nag-ra-rally araw araw ay buhay pa rin tayo sa pagkundena sa kanilang lahat.
Pero in the end, ang magbibigay ng resulta ay ang pisikal nating pagkilos.
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How can I sign up with the campaign NO TO CON ASS?
There is no point comparing so called physical rallies with virtual rallies. It is only now that we could vent whatever we want to express via the web and internet, because it is available now. I am sure if we had access to this type during the “1st Quarter Storm”, web campaigns would have complemented all those physical rallies at that period.
Should you say , that during Ninoy Aquino’s funeral march, with the access of the web then, that people should not join the march and just post their sympathy and condolences thru the web?
Should you say too, that during the original EDSA revolution, if we had access to internet and web then, that people need not converge to Camp Aguinaldo and just post through the web one’s participation?
So called physical rallies is the “Parliament of the Streets”, it is “Pressure Politics”which brought about many changes in the political system.
I say the biggest difference with physical rallies vs virtual rallies is, people who join physical rallies are braver than those who simply vent thru the web without being seen physically, even hide in anonimity by NOT posting her/his real name for fear of reprisal.
Participants in physical rallies are more committed to their cause than those who simply vent through the web in the comforts of their homes and offices. The streets arent comfortable at all. Exposed to the pollution, scorched by the heat of the sun, drenched by the rains, battered by truncheons, hosed down with pressurized water, those are our valiant street parliamentarians.
Physical rallies and virtual rallies will complement each other to bring about changes we desire.
why not change the people who governs rather than the constitution.that surely will make sense