Law experts: We need Cha-cha now

Legal luminaries on Thursday agreed that the country needs to revise its 23-year-old Constitution, given the excessive power of the President under the current set-up, but likewise cautioned against wholesale amendments that may imperil national sovereignty. In the first public hearing of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments, Revision of Codes and Laws, six law experts presented their positions on calls to change the 1987 Constitution, following President Benigno Aquino III's declaration not to run for public office after his term expires in 2016. The Senate committee, chaired by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, invited the law experts to the hearing called to determine the necessity for Charter change.
In his paper presented during the hearing, former Chief Justice Reynato Puno said the excessive power given to the President under the current system is “unhealthy" for democracy. “The overwhelming powers of the [chief] executive is a contributing factor to the lack of ideological growth of our political parties. It has also caused instability, for in the hands of an Executive prone to error, it can provoke people power uprising," Puno said. Former Supreme Court Justice Vicente Mendoza meanwhile said having three branches of government has resulted in the creation of conflict due to constant “friction", instead of the preservation of liberty as it was originally intended to. “In our case, the friction, instead of being a safeguard of liberty against tyranny, more often than not is the cause of inefficiency if not paralysis in government," said Mendoza. Dr. Jose Abueva, former president of the University of the Philippines, also said Charter change will bring about certain positive reforms such as the devolution of certain governmental powers from the national to the regional and local levels, and reforms in the judiciary. National interest over foreign investments In his position paper, however, former SC Justice Florentino Feliciano warned against introducing major changes in the Constitution, particularly those that could imperil national interests simply for the sake of attracting foreign investors. Feliciano, whom Santiago referred to as a “genius" more than once during the hearing, particularly cited the proposed abolition of the 60% minimum local equity requirement on corporations engaged in private commercial and industrial lands, natural resources, and public utility enterprises, as recommended by the Presidential Commission on Constitutional Reform created in 1999 by former President Joseph Estrada. “Constitutions are meant to serve structural purposes and seek enduring goals. Only changes of compelling need or stark requirements of survival should be considered," Feliciano said. Similarly, former UP College of Law dean Merlin Magallona said that sustainable development must be a guiding principle in reformulating the country’s fundamental law. “In the Philippine setting, sustainable development reinforces the constitutional status of nationalism as a limitation to the exploitation and disposition of land and natural resources. The people’s ownership and use of land and natural resources is a component of the concept of Filipino citizenship," Magallona stated. Adolfo Azcuna, another former SC justice, suggested that in order to amend the Constitution, both houses of Congress meet in a joint session not as a legislative body but as a Constituent Assembly, so as to take into account the views of both chambers. Azcuna’s suggested mode of Charter change is different from that of setting up an independent body – a Constitutional Convention – which is, however, the favored mode of Senator Santiago. Santiago wants ‘quick’ process In a press briefing after the hearing, Santiago said as soon as she gets the go-signal from the members of the Senate committee, she will proceed with filing a resolution calling for the creation of a Constitutional Convention, the delegates of which may be elected during the 2013 elections. Santiago said she would like to file the resolution “very soon, because I want to do things very quickly." She said the hearing, which was attended by lawyers, civic organizations, and a significant number of students, was aimed at getting the opinion of the people on the necessity for Charter change. “We are trying to determine whether the wise men in our country and the young people are interested in Charter change," Santiago said. She added she herself is in favor of the parliamentary system, citing that majority of the nations in the world now have a parliamentary system of government. “Masyadong makapangyarihan ang presidente, whereas ikumpara natin sa parliamentary, walang single na tao na kaya niyang magmando sa buong bansa. [Here the President is too powerful, whereas in the parliamentary system, in comparison, no single person is able to command the whole country.] It will be a sharing of power between the legislative and the executive branches," Santiago explained. “It is very expensive to maintain two houses of Congress. We should have only one," she added. She also said it is a “very good proposal" to divide the judicial branch into two: a Constitutional Court to be composed by specialists who will resolve only constitutional cases, and a Supreme Court to tackle all other cases. Santiago said, however, that the committee is not keen on inviting resource speakers who are opposed to amending the Constitution. “I already know what the advantages of not amending or revising the constitution are, so I don’t need to contact them," she maintained. – MRT/JV, GMA News