MANILA – The draft federal Constitution that the Duterte administration pushes for poses “twin horrors” and enables a “reverse power grab,” a political science professor said.
It could provide a “double bonanza” for President Rodrigo Duterte, according to Gene Lacza Pilapil of the University of the Philippines.
Duterte will also be the Transition President, who will head the 11-member Transition Commission, Pilapil said in a public hearing on the proposed federal government on Tuesday, citing the “initial plan” of the Constitutional Committee (Con-com).
The Con-com was formed by Duterte to review the 1987 Constitution as he pushed for the shift to a federal form of government.
The 10 other members of the Transition Commission will be chosen by a search committee whose members are to be chosen by the President himself, “giving him full control of both the committee and the Transition Commission,” said Pilapil.
Moreover, Pilapil was wary that the transition to the federal government will “be done in just three years.”
“The original Con-com idea was June 30, 2022 … the Transition Committee would not have only come up with the plan for the transition but also have implemented it.
“Since the Con-com members … specifically target the May 2019 … elections as also the time of the plebiscite for their constitution, this means the transition, from plan to execution, is to be done in just three years.
“These are twin horrors in constitutional engineering and are classic cases of brute political factors overriding any institutional design logic,” said the professor.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes, assured that any move to amend or revise the Charter and shift to a federal government will go through a democratic process to allow Filipinos to make informed decisions.
“Lahat ng punto de bista sa usapin ng Charter change ay dapat marinig sa isang bukas at pampublikong pagdinig upang mas malalim pang maunawaan ng ating mga kababayan ang mga isyu,” he said.
The Con-com submitted to the Senate a copy of the draft federal Charter on July 12.
Moreover Pilapil warned that the draft federal Charter could oust Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo from her post – her term may be cut short at the request of the President.
“This could only be described as a reverse power grab, or a sort of impeachment-via-new-constitution,” Pilapil said.
The Con-com already banned President Duterte from seeking re-election in the 2022 national elections.
On the other hand, former chief justice Hilario Davide said if the removal of “imperial Manila” by decentralizing resources is the goal of changing the Constitution, the Supreme Court has made this moot with a recent decision.
“The Court ruled that the 40 percent IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment) for the LGUs (local government units) shall be based in all ‘national taxes,’ not only on ‘internal revenue taxes,’” he said.
“The LGUs can now collect their shares in all the national taxes from the 1992, upon the effectivity of the Local Government Code,” said Davide.
“According to (Finance) Secretary Carlos Dominguez … under this decision the amount owed by the national government to the LGUs effective 1992 would reach to P1.5 trillion,” he added./PN
