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[av_heading heading=’People-driven Charter Change’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
EDITORIAL
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February 1, 2018
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PRESIDENT Duterte has opened a new front in his administration’s fevered push for Charter Change with the appointment of 19 members to a Consultative Committee charged with reviewing the 1987 Constitution.
Skeptics believe the inclusion of prominent, well-regarded individuals among his appointees – such as former Chief Justice Reynato Puno and former Senator Aquilino Pimentel – is aimed at providing a veneer of respectability to this whole venture. It can be viewed that Malacañang is keenly aware that, left to their own devices, the incumbent legislators in the House and Senate who are in the process of drafting their own revised constitution will likely be incapable of producing anything but the most self-serving and unpalatable version imaginable. Presumably, the hope is that this committee can come up with recommendations that can deodorize the stench.
It should be noted that all of the appointees are either former justices, lawyers, academics, or professional politicians. They already comprise the overwhelming majority of the committee. Not a single one hails from and represents the basic sectors, such as the workers, peasants, women, and youth. This highlights the top-down rather than grassroots nature of the current Charter Change push.
Critics of the administration observe that politicians are the ones clamoring for a shift to a federal-parliamentary form of government, not the people. If true, then it’s not surprising that the President hasn’t even bothered to include them in this committee. Any subsequent appointments from their ranks would be mere tokenism.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto suggests that the Consultative Committee seek out the views of the ordinary Juan dela Cruz. This makes sense. The Charter Change process should actively involve people. Voting in a referendum or plebiscite to approve or reject a draft constitution is not enough.
Remember: a constitution does not only lay down the basic principles of governance and its structure; it also includes the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Thus the people’s widest possible participation in the Charter change process is a must. It guarantees their having a say in how their government must function. It’s the people’s future that is at stake. Their voices must be heard.
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