Election of ConCon delegates

Isupport President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to revise the 1987 Constitution, and call for the election of constitutional convention (ConCon) delegates alongside the 2019 mid-term polls. Congress should waste no time in calling for a constitutional convention now and forget about simply mustering itself into a constituent assembly to propose changes to the charter.

The president himself strongly advocated a constitutional convention when he was still a presidential candidate in 2016 and immediately after he was elected into office.

The extra budget required by a constitutional convention should not dissuade Congress. We should not hesitate to invest in the preparation of a new constitution that could free up the national economy from the clutches of oligarchs, build genuine peace and order, provide full employment and guarantee every Filipino family a rising standard of living.

This is the first time in more than 30 years that we will be rewriting the Constitution. We might as well invest wisely in perfecting a truly responsive and highly relevant new charter through a constitutional convention.

In previous administrations, attempts by Congress to convene into a constituent assembly were rejected by the public, mainly due to fears that lawmakers might introduce self-serving amendments, including the removal of restrictions to the number of terms they and their family members may serve in elected offices.

If we again insist on a constituent assembly, we clearly risk repeating the blunders of the past, and we might lose this great opportunity for our nation to embrace a whole new constitution.

In a constitutional convention, the people will elect representatives who will recommend revisions to the Constitution.-- Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza