WHEN Rodrigo Duterte campaigned for president, he also campaigned for the passage of a new Constitution.
He said he wanted a shift from a unitary form of government to a federal one.
The avowed intention was to localize power so that the needs of poor people in faraway places can be addressed. This is contrasted to the centralized, hence desensitized, ways of “imperial Manila.”
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The government itself spearheaded the information campaign to educate the people on the benefits of federalism.
Duterte also issued an executive order creating a consultative commission, tasked to review the 1987 Constitution.
The commissioners came out with a federal constitution draft in mid-2018. By this time surveys showed that more than half of Filipinos are opposed to charter change.
The proposal died in late 2021 when certificates of candidacy for President and other positions were filed.
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Moves for charter change have been resurrected.
In Tuesday last week the House of Representatives passed on final reading a bill that provides details on revising the Constitution through a constitutional convention. All but seven congressmen approved the bill.
The bill provides for a hybrid con-con. Each legislative district will be represented by one elected delegate. Sectors will comprise a fifth of the con-con. They will be jointly appointed by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House.
If plans do not miscarry, the elections for district delegates will coincide with the barangay elections in October this year.
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The changes in the Constitution that congressmen want are ostensibly limited to some of its economic provisions.
Resolution of Both Houses No. 6, which emanates from the lower chamber, provides that the Senate and the House, with a vote of two-thirds of its members, voting separately, will “call a Constitutional Convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to the economic provisions, or revision of, the 1987 Constitution…”
The resolution itself admits that the proposed changes may not be limited to choice economic provisions. The entirety of the Constitution, including provisions pertaining to the country’s political structure, may be revised by the con-con.
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The con-con can decide that the Philippines shift to a unicameral legislature. It is possible that the Senate will no longer exist under the new Constitution.
Will the Senate agree to this proposal when the threat hanging over them is existential?
Half of the Senate is composed of electees in 2022. Their six-year terms of office will end in 2028.
The timeline of the House indicates that the report of the proposed con-con should be submitted to the President by end of July 2024.
These senators may see half of their tenure down the drain.
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With swirling rumors of his possible removal as Senate President, Juan Miguel Zubiri the other day assured congressmen that he will keep an open mind on charter change.
He is purportedly just waiting for the report to be submitted by the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes chaired by Sen. Robinhood Padilla. This open-mindedness banks on the assurance that the Lower House intends to limit the amendments to economic provisions.
We can think of no legal cover, however, that, once convened, the con-con will be acting within the framework set by the House bill or the joint resolution. Control by any other body would defeat the purpose behind its creation.
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Senators Ronald dela Rosa and Christopher Go were top officials of the Duterte administration who ran successful campaigns for the Senate in 2019 under PDP Laban. They will exit the Senate in 2025 unless reelected under the current Constitution. Both are supportive of charter change.
Is charter change a remnant of the Duterte initiative and not a Marcos maneuver?/PN
