We, the people/ The Philippines belongs to the Asian Century

Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg , the phrase – we, the people – can be as true as possible through the communication vehicle of social media. Zuckerberg has a billion followers in the Internet.

On the other hand and not many are aware of this, the Philippines was once named the social networking capital of the world. In an article written by Jon Russel it says that “Asia dominates the world’s biggest social networking markets.” In the rankings of countries in the region as compiled by the blog 24/7 Wall Street, the Philippines tops the list with netizens using Facebook “penetration (usage per population). According to the article 93.9 percent of Filipinos nationwide were reported signed up to Facebook. Following closely was Israel with 91% and Turkey coming in third with 90.2%. And although Twitter is said to be popular with the young it only rated 16.1%.

“Facebook is the country’s most popular website, more so than Google, and has a penetration rate of 93.9%.  The Philippines is also the eighth most popular country for Twitter use on a global scale, with a penetration rate of 16.1%.  The popularity of photo sharing has increased by 46% in the country in one year, largely due to Facebook.  Social networking is so popular among Filipinos, the country has been nicknamed “The Social Networking Capital of the World.”

Given these numbers it isn’t a pie in the sky that Filipino facebook users can call themselves, “we, the people.”

So when Iceland created a template for crowdsourcing a new Constitution, some Filipinos immediately caught on.  Why not? And so began discussions of what could be done to use the  93.9% penetration in the market they were saying of Filipinos in Facebook. Iceland may have been the first, but there would be no reason why the Philippines could not do the same.

Moreover, for far too long constitutional reformers were continuously blocked by their advocacy that the time indeed had come to revisit the 1987 Constitution. It has been said the people, the crowd, do not want constitutional change. Period. No one could dispute surveys but perhaps it will be more difficult for their opponents to claim that.  A new constitution could indeed be crowdsourced and its results be used as a basis for a new Constitution. When that crowdsourced is used it could and should say with confidence in its Preamble – We, the People and put up that banner for referendum when the time came.

Moreover it would not limit itself to the economic provisions. Advocates of constitutional reform have been pushed to a corner for an important but not the most important constitutional reform needed. To my mind it comes third. The two more important is the shift to parliamentary government and adopting the federal principle in a new political structure.

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One of the more difficult issues for Filipinos is how they would place the country in the conflict between China and the US for hegemony in Asia.

By extension, the issue is also concerned that Japan  has of late thrown its hat into the ring as the US sidekick in Asia.

My attention has been called by my Chinese friends to please warn Filipinos that the Japanese Prime Minister’s recent visit to the Yasukuni’s shrine is ominous.

What did I think of that? As a Filipino, should I not be indignant that the Japanese prime minister should be so audacious. Such a visit, my friend told me, is an offense to all Asian victims, including both China and the Philippines. Or did it not matter at all that Abe seems unconcerned about the symbolic implication of the visit. Is it Japan’s way of stressing return to militarism reminiscent of World War II?

“The Yasukuni Shrine was established more than 150 years ago, and Asian people know very well how it has since been used by Japanese militarists as a spiritual symbol to launch wars of aggression. In addition, it is deeply offensive to witness convicted war criminals being venerated. These were leaders found guilty of inflicting indescribable suffering on countless individuals during the war. Rightly, within hours of Mr Abe’s visit, there were strong condemnations from China, South Korea and across the international community.”

All Asians, he said, should be concerned. He may have a point but that is not the aspect of the issue that I would tackle for the moment. Indeed, Japan has tried to make amends to Filipinos in a fashion through trade and aid.

This column regrets that Japan and China should be at loggerheads when it is important for all countries to come together and push for what has been called “The Asian Century.”

For that to happen, Japan will have to acknowledge that China IS the Asian Century. As Zachary Keck wrote last year,  “whether an Asian Century comes to pass or not will depend in large part on China.” In his article he said that according to  a 2010 International Monetary Fund, it will happen because Asia will account for over 40 percent of the global GDP by 2030.

He adds however that it will not be so much the Asian Century but China’s century.

“China has become such an integral part of other Asian countries’ economies as a result of trade. Earlier this year, China surpassed the US as the world’s largest trading nation. “

Figures culled from different sources all confirm that China has become the largest trading partner for Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia and India.

It is more than for economic reasons why we should help push for the Asian Century. It is our region – the roots of our culture and history. But the difficulties seem intractable. All Asians lose out if the Asian Century does not happen because of animosities.