Con-Com or Con-Ass?

OUR present Constitution of 1987 was drawn up by a Constitutional Commission of 48 members appointed by President Corazon C. Aquino. Before it, we had the Malolos Constitution drawn up by elected and appointed provincial representatives who met in Malolos, Bulacan, where President Emilio Aguinaldo had transferred his seat of government of the First Philippine Republic in 1898. After the occupation of the islands by the Americans in 1899, we had the 1935 Constitution, drawn up by an elected convention of Filipino leaders, that governed the Commonwealth of the Philippines.

During the Japanese occupation, we had the Second Philippine Republic with its own Constitution of 1943. The Third Philippine Republic came into being in 1946 still governed by the 1935 Constitution with amendments. President Ferdinand Marcos convened a Constitutional Convention that drew up the 1973 Constitution. After the EDSA revolution of 1986, President Corazon C. Aquino governed for about a year under a Freedom Constitution, before she appointed a commission that wrote our present 1987 Constitution.

These constitutions were written variously by conventions and commissions. The present Constitution of 1987 was drawn up by a commission of 48 appointed commissioners. This was severely criticized at the time as many national leaders preferred a convention with elected members. But time deemed too tight, with a threat of a coup d’etat. And so our present Constitution was drawn up instead by an appointed commission. Strangely enough, that commission provided that in case a new Constitution is to be drawn up, it should be by either an elected convention, an assembly of the elected members of Congress, or People’s Initiative – not a commission.

Because we have had a long and respected history of elected conventions drawing up our previous Constitutions, it was hoped that the new Constitution proposed by President Duterte would be written by a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) rather than a Constitutional Assembly (Con-Ass). But many administration leaders feel time is of the essence and it will cost too much to hold a special election of convention delegates.

This now is the present state of the debate on the mode to be followed. Resistance to Con-Ass may partly be due to the low esteem in which many politicians now in Congress are held. Ultimately, the President may make the decision. And whatever the final decision -– Con-Com or Con-Ass – we are confident he will assert his strong leadership so the new Constitution will be a worthy successor to the many Constitutions that are now part of our great history.