It’s like frying us in our own fat. The soil used for the man-made islands China built in the Spratlys came from the Philippines. This shocking report of Chinese quarrying of top soil from the mountains in Sta. Cruz, Zambales is alarming. Zambales residents have known about the illegal Chinese hauling of local soil but kept silent about it, fearing the wrath of former Zambales Governor Hermogenes Ebdane who as the top provincial official presumably granted the permit to the illegal quarrying. The residents can’t really be blamed for keeping quiet. The Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources did not go after Ebdane, a former police official, giving the perception he was untouchable. But with new Governor Amor Delosa, they found their voices to denounce the brazen theft of soil by the Chinese. A few years back, black sand from Zambales shores were also siphoned by the Chinese to waiting barges anchored off the bay. Black sand is used for the making of armaments and other weapons of war that China could use against the Philippines in its aggressive moves in the West Philippine Sea. Allowing this is treason of the highest order. Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez must hold accountable those responsible for this criminal negligence and violation of the country’s law. Governor Delosa said more than 450 tons of soil monthly were hauled away by Chinese pretending to be miners. The soil were taken and dumped on Scarborough Shoal (Panatag) off Bajo Masinloc to fortify the artificial islands the Chinese created from the shoals, rocks and reefs protruding from the sea. This is the base from which Chinese patrol boats drive away Filipino fishermen in Bajo Masinloc to deprive them of livelihood.There is a move in Congress to constitute itself into a Constitutional Assembly to amend the Constitution. The congressmen are pushing ConAss, and President Rodrigo Duterte who is also in favor of it said that holding a Constitutional Convention would be expensive and that electing delegates to a Con-Con would take time and be divisive. The President is constantly mouthing his policy of meaningful change. But leaving Charter Change to the usual suspects is not going to achieve reforms. We hope the President realizes this soon enough.“We already have elected representatives of the people in place, so why not let them do the work of amending the Constitution? Duterte reasoned out. The problem , Mr. President, is that many of these “representatives” often do not represent the will of the people. You must have good reason when you suggested to stop addressing congressmen as “Honorable” and yourself as “Excellency.” That holding a Constitutional Convention is expensive and time consuming is not true. There is already a neutral venue in the Philippine International Convention Center for this historic event. This can have a time table of two years with the major agenda already threshed out by a duly constituted commission, composed of concerned citizens including retired justices and members of the academe who are concerned about the future of this country. They would certainly do better than most of the con artists already entrenched in Congress. It does not take too much imagination to know that the shortened name ConAss already says it all. The people should be vigilant and not let the congressmen get away with this ploy. Letting them amend the Philippine Constitution would be like allowing the fox into the henhouse. Undoubtedly high in Congress’ priority if it’s ConAss would be to perpetuate their political dynasties. The timeline for holding a Constitutional Convention with duly elected delegates should not be daunting as the congressmen are painting it to be. This can be done during President Duterte’s six-year term, which has just started anyway. It would be to Duterte’s credit and legacy if a landmark undertaking such as a Constitutional Convention is accomplished in his watch. With such issues as federalism and economic amendments in the agenda of Charter Change, these issues can be easily railroaded by the politicians to stay in power. With a complicit minority that can easily be co-opted by the supermajority, amendments to economic rules can be manipulated considering many of these political dynasties are rich and in business. The administration is concerned about the expenses entailed in holding a Constitutional Convention. Yet, the country is going to host the next Miss Universe beauty pageant which means allocating funds for an event that does not have as much national significance as a Con-Con.