Taking part in change

Studying how the Philippines crafted its Constitution since the days of the Katipunan should be a good starting point in understanding events that are quickly unfolding before us.

Recent surveys have shown that a big majority of Filipinos know little or nothing at all about the debated shift to a federal system of government, and this is about the same number that have little or no knowledge of the current Constitution. You and I could very well be in these categories.

Including the Tejeros Convention of 1897 and the Malolos Convention of 1898, the basic law that governs the Philippines has been changed three other times: through the work of the 1934 Constitutional Convention, the 1971 Constitutional Convention, and the 1986 Constitutional Commission.

An attempt to change the current Constitution is now underway, kickstarted by Executive Order No. 10 signed by Duterte on Dec. 7, 2016. It calls for the creation of a 25-member Consultative Committee (ConCom) to review the existing 1987 Constitution and come up with a draft charter.

Duterte’s ConCom, with only 22 members personally appointed, was constituted only on Jan. 24. It was tasked to come up with a draft federalism charter within six months, which was complied with last July 4 and submitted to the President.

The rough plan is for Filipinos to approve a proposed Constitution during a plebiscite in 2019, which would then pave the way for elections for all regional and federal positions in May 2022.

Change is not going to be easy

As with the previous attempts to come up with a new Constitution, the period between now and the planned plebiscite in 2019 is not going to be a walk in the park.

The Tejeros Convention was spooked by strife among Katipuneros. The Malolos Convention was aborted by America’s colonization of the Philippines. The 1935 Philippine Constitution was largely patterned after the American Constitution – to get the Americans to grant us independence.

The 1971 Constitutional Convention strove to ban a president or any member of his/her family from seeking reelection, but the declaration of Martial Law in 1972 and the deletion of this proposed ban from the draft constitution ensured the prolonged stay of former president Ferdinand Marcos in power until he fled the country after the 1986 People Power revolution.

The 1987 Constitution sought to strengthen Philippine laws so that one person or family would not be able to keep power for an indefinite period. It was the handiwork of 48 members of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, which was presided over by former Supreme Court Justice Cecilia Muñoz-Palma.

Members of the 1986 ConCom included Bishop Teodoro Bacani, former labor minister (and eventually senator and foreign affairs secretary) Blas Ople, and Ateneo De Manila University president Father Joaquin Bernas SJ.

The 1986 ConCom worked feverishly and passionately for over a hundred days before passing a draft constitution that was then presented to former president Corazon Aquino. After a nationwide information campaign, an overwhelming number of Filipino voters affirmed the 1987 Constitution.

Controversial provisions

Duterte’s ConCom had submitted a draft constitution that includes two provisions that are already being questioned by some of members of Congress. The first is a partial ban on “persons related within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity” from running for public office “simultaneously for more than one national and one regional or local position.”

The second discourages turncoatism and prohibits an elective public officer from changing his political party affiliation during the first and last two years of their term.

There are other controversial proposals, including the suspension of the 2019 elections in favor of a plebiscite. As expected, this did not sit well with those who are planning to run for an elected position next year.

A maelstrom indeed is being whipped, and Filipinos must keep abreast with issues to be able to vote wisely, that is, if ever a referendum will indeed take place during Duterte’s term. Abangan.

Loose cannon

On a separate, but still related issue, on Aug. 2, Mocha Uson uploaded on her Facebook page a segment of her The Good News Game Show where co-host Drew Olivar was dancing to a cheer about federalism. It has, hence, become viral for what many criticized as vulgar.

The assistant secretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) defended her post by stating that the controversial game show segment was made before she was asked to help in the government’s P90-million campaign to make people more aware of the proposed shift to a federal government system.

Whether or not the game show segment is a part of the “official” information campaign on federalism, Uson is first and foremost a government official who holds a sensitive position in the President’s communications office, one which has set protocols regarding information dissemination.

Her FB page, Mocha Uson Blog, cannot be separated as personal, especially since this is open to anyone who can view Facebook. In a sense, everything that’s on her page has a semblance of being an official piece of propaganda.

We live in a world where social media has forced new rules on information dissemination, and governments should be quick to define permissible boundaries by which people in public service should observe when using new channels of information.

Especially when speaking on behalf of and for the President, adherence to a line of official approvals is a must. Loose cannons pose a danger to damaging the government’s agenda, and are even wasting taxpayers’ money.

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Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at reydgamboa@yahoo.com. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.