ILOILO City – The House Committee on Constitutional Amendments successfully held its Visayas leg of public consultations regarding legislative measures pushing for constitutional reforms at the Iloilo Convention Center yesterday, with nearly 1,000 participants from both the public and private sectors.
“As the host city, we are elated with the turnout of participants who came not only from Iloilo and Western Visayas but as far as Dumaguete City and Borongan City, Eastern Samar. The punong barangays of Iloilo City came out in full force to join the consultation as well as the city councilors. The academe, civil society organizations, grassroots, local government units, and other sectors were all represented. It was a very successful out-of-town consultation. We thank Speaker Martin Romualdez for bringing our House legislators closer to the people,” Deputy Majority Leader Julienne “Jam-jam” Baronda of the Lone District of Iloilo City told Panay News.
Constitutional Amendments Committee senior vice Chairman Lorenz Defensor, who presided over the consultation, said, “I’m very happy with the attendance during this public consultation. All sectors were represented — the private sector and the public sector. And I’m happy that many are aware of our push to amend the Constitution, especially our economic provisions. I’m also glad for those who are against that they expressed their views, and it’s part of our democratic exercise that the House of Representatives wants to instill that the deliberation will be transparent and everybody can see it because the Constitution is for all Filipinos.”
It was the fourth consultation to get the public’s general sentiment for measures proposing amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution. The previous two were held in the National Capital Region (NCR), and last week in Cagayan de Oro City for the Mindanao leg.
The participants were given an overview of the proposals calling for a constitutional convention to propose amendments to the Constitution. These are People’s Initiative (PET) 1; House Bills 4926, 6698, 6805, and 6920; and House Joint Resolution (HJR) 12. The participants were likewise given a summary of Resolutions of Both Houses (RBH) 2 and 3, which propose amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
Assistant Majority Leader Margarita Ignacia “Migs” B. Nograles presented the effects of the restrictive provisions of the Constitution on the lives of the people and the possible benefits to be gained in making these provisions more open.
Rep. Rodante Marcoleta spoke about the pending legislative measures that led to the conduct of the public consultations.
Assistant Majority Leader Richard Gomez presented House Bill 6805, calling for the constitution of a constitutional convention.
Almost 1,000 attendees representing the different sectors – business, academia, youth, government agencies, and local government units, among others – came to the consultation. They were asked to share their views on the following: (1) whether or not it is necessary to amend the Constitution; (2) if yes, the preferred mode of amendment; and (3) what specific amendments they would like to propose, if any.
Supporting the move to amend the Charter, Capiz’s Gov. Fredenil Castro said, “We have listened to the opposition for so long. It’s now been 36 years that our country has not moved forward because our country listened to the opposition. Why don’t we listen to a more liberal view now? We have very restrictive provisions of the Constitution.”
Antique’s Gov. Rhodora Cadiao, who came with her vice governor and majority of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) members, echoed, arguing, “Pinagbigyan na natin sa matagal na panahon ang oposisyon sa Charter Change, bakit hindi naman natin pagbigyan ang pagbabago para maramdaman naman ng maliit na probinsiya kagaya ng Antique?”
She said all 18 mayors in their province want to amend the Constitution.
“Thirty-six years is too long. Dala ko ang boses ng mga Antiqueño. Change is good,” said Cadiao.
Aklan’s Gov. Jose Enrique Miraflores, who attended with SP members and municipal mayors, said, “I’m here to show our support for the amendment, especially on the economic side of it. We might be able to negotiate with foreign investors if they come into the country. This will help small provinces like Aklan. It can be beneficial for us.”
Resource person Dr. Clement Camposano, who is the chancellor of UP Visayas and a political science professor, declared, “I don’t think that it is still an issue or a question that the Constitution can be amended at this point. All great constitutions are a product of the spirit of reform. Not a single one was written in a day. So it follows that we must be open to reforming the Constitution. If one surveys the changes since this constitution was written, the world is radically different. In fact, we have introduced very fundamental changes into the fabric of political life since then.”
If the amendment pushes through, he suggests going beyond the economic provisions and include changes in the political set-up by “regionalizing the Philippine Senate.”
Meanwhile, another resource person, Atty. Neri Colmenares, a former House member and council member of the International Bar Association, argued that there is no need to amend the Constitution “because of the timing. Mahirap ang buhay ngayon, mahirap na mag –cause ng disunity among our people because Cha-Cha (Charter Change) has always generated that disunity,” adding that, “Our problems on poverty, corruption, lack of development, all these problems, did not come from the Constitution.”
Deputy Majority Leaders Jude Acidre, Ramon Nolasco Jr., Alfred Delos Santos, Jose “Bong” Teves, and Wilter Palma along with Assistant Majority Leaders Margarita Ignacia Nograles, Richard Gomez, and Anna Veloso-Tuason as well as Reps. Rodante Marcoleta, Raul Angelo “Jil” Bongalon, Jonathan Keith Flores, Angelica Natasha Co, Raul “Boboy” Tupas, James “Jojo” Ang Jr., Michael “Mike” Gorriceta, Ferjenel Biron and host Julienne “Jam-jam” Baronda either gave their reactions or listened intently to the insights shared by the participants./PN
