MANILA – Sen. Leila de Lima wanted to know if the term “human rights” was deliberately excluded from the proposed federal constitution drafted by a committee tasked to review the 1987 Constitution.
Article II, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution provides: “The State values the dignity of every human and guarantees full respect for human rights.”
Its equivalent provision in the draft of the Consultative Committee (Con-com) (Section 13, Article II) states: “The Federal Republic values the dignity of every person and guarantees full respect for the person and the right of all citizens to participate in all government processes.”
“How come the phrase ‘human rights’ is no longer found in the Article on Declaration of Principles and State Policies?” de Lima said on Tuesday. “Was the deletion of ‘human rights’ deliberate? If so, why?”
President Rodrigo Duterte, who has repeatedly expressed that he does not care about human rights, formed the Con-com.
The Con-com submitted the proposed federal Charter to Duterte on July 9. Congress will discuss it this month.
According to de Lima, the Duterte administration’s push to amend the Constitution will do no good to Filipinos.
It is “difficult” to entrust the revision of the Constitution to an administration “that has shown susceptibility to abuse power, to allow impunity to prosper, and to repeatedly lie to the public,” she said.
“Like someone who, after being confronted by the demands of real, hard work –or what we call public service – suddenly gives up and blames the Constitution for their failures.
“At worst, all those are just pretext. The proponents really want something else, and they’re trying hard to make sure we can’t see through their pretense,” said de Lima./PN
