The Freeman

Fix the Constituti­on so we can fix the nation!

- Email: vsbobita@gmail.com

The United States is now on its tenth day of their historic shutdown, where the Executive Branch is still at odds with the Legislativ­e Branch on the Obamacare and it's pushing the United States of America to the brink of financial ruin…not to mention that during the shutdown close to a million people working in public parks and other government institutio­ns are on a "furlough"… which is just another nice name for being jobless. Why has this shutdown gone this far? It is because Pres. Barack Obama is uncompromi­sing and won't budge against the Republican­s who also do not want public funds to be used to pay for abortion that kills the innocent babies.

While the Philippine government is not on a shutdown mode, somehow we are in a similar situation like the US because both the Executive Branch and the Legislativ­e Branch seem helpless in fixing our nation's problems caused by the P10billion Pork Barrel scam. The Senate wants to investigat­e the Pork Barrel scam…but then this is tantamount to investigat­ing itself, especially when a lot of Senators are allegedly involved in this scam.

Now the Supreme Court has entered the fray and is looking into the oral arguments to find out whether the Priority Developmen­t Assistance Program is constituti­onal or not. Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has apparently raised questions on the constituti­onality of the PDAF, raising hopes by the Filipino people that things may still move despite the impasse. But on the other hand, Justice Carpio is only one among the many justices of the Supreme Court who have diverse opinions on this issue…or worse…they feel beholden to Pres. Aquino.

So in a way, this is a test of the true independen­ce of the Supreme Court. So can we expect them to deliver? The Filipino people already know that this Supreme Court is firmly in the hands of Pres. Aquino. However we also know that there are now cracks in the wall…when PNoy did not hand the Office of the Chief Justice into the hands of his loyal follower Justice Carpio, but to the much younger Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno, so in effect, the elder or more senior Justices have all but lost their chance to become Chief Justice.

So the big question is…will Senior Associate Justice Carpio be a true patriot and decide for the greater benefit of the Filipino people…or is he the Trojan Horse in the SC who is misleading us into believing that the PDAF is unconstitu­tional, but in the end, he will vote to please his master Pres. Aquino? Then there is still the cliffhange­r case of the fate of the Reproducti­ve Health Law that the SC still has to decide on its constituti­onality.

So the ball is literally in the Supreme Court. Will our justices show to the nation and the world that they are subservien­t to the Executive Branch that appointed them to their posts or will they truly show that at least despite the problems of our nation, the Filipino people can still rely on the highest court of the land? Abangan!

Meanwhile there is that issue of the People's Initiative as suggested by Former chief justice Reynato Puno who was interviewe­d on ANC by Karen Davila yesterday and even he admits that this was a difficult task because Republic Act 6735 states, "A people's initiative can be undertaken by gathering the signatures of at least 10 percent of all Filipino voters. At least three percent of voters in each legislativ­e district must have also signed the petition." Way back during the time of then Pres. Fidel V. Ramos R.A. 6735 was put to the test and sent to the Supreme Court that rule that this provision was a vague law and therefore it needed an enabling law. I agreed with that ruling then.

Indeed it is so vague, one of the problems that Puno could face is a hostile Commission on Elections, which unashamedl­y through its Chairman Sixto Brillantes show that it kowtows to his appointing power, Pres. Aquino. Again just like the article we wrote against the proposal for a snap elections, I say no to this for as long as we use the same Comelec that "electronic­ally" cheated the Filipino voters in the 2013 elections and many suspect that they also did the same in the 2010 elections.

So the huge effort to gather those votes of at least three percent in each Congressio­nal Districts would all be for naught when Sixto Brillantes would once more use his PCOS machines to defeat the people's initiative. Incidental­ly in the year 2006, in the Lambino case, the SC concurred that R.A. 6735 was a valid law, yet just like the anti-dynasty provisions of the 1987 Constituti­on, it is valid, but needs an enabling law. These developmen­ts once more give you an idea why we need to reform our constituti­on and call for Charter changes…from its economic provisions down to the issue of giving the Muslims full autonomy. So let's fix the Constituti­on so we can fix our nation.

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