The 1987 Constitution would have to be completely and totally overhauled
An international organization based in Stockholm made a study of 173 democracies worldwide and found that in nearly half of the total, democracies were found to be declining.
This phenomenon listed the areas where the democratic countries were found to be declining, and they are on freedom of expression, freedom of the press, human rights, law enforcement and the rule of law.
This study raises the question: Is democracy right for the Philippines?
I have been a journalist since 1950, and a lawyer at that, which provides me the background to determine whether or not democracy is right for our country.
Santa Banana, we were in the “convent” when the Spanish monarchy had our nation under Spanish rule for 377 years, on “Hollywood” under American rule for 48 years, and under the Japanese Occupation for four years.
It was on June 12, 1896 when Emilio Agtuinaldo raised the Philippine flag in Cavite to proclaim independence.
Truth to tell, I like, or rather prefer, to live in a democratic country rather than under the dictatorship or authoritarian rule, which we had when then strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. proclaimed Martial Law on Sept 21, 1972 to cut short the communist insurgents from taking over the country.
But, there are certain historical facts about the Philippines that should not obliterate our past before the discovery of the Philippines by Magellan for Europe in 1521.
Thus, since the Philippines is an archipelago made up of some 7,000 islands which comprise the three main islands of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, we now have some more than 7,000 dialects. That itself is enough to divide the nation.
(Editor’s Note: There are some 130 to 195 languages spoken in the Philippines, depending on the method of classification. Almost all are Malayo-Polynesian languages native to the archipelago.)
Yes, we have democracy and we have freedom of expression and the press.
But, Santa Banana, somehow something is lacking in our kind of democracy that national leaders should look further into!
It’s for this reason that I am convinced there’s a dire need to amend the 1987 Constitution to Federalism whereby representation in governance should be expanded, where all Filipinos, and I mean all Filipinos, should have a voice in governance.
For this reason alone, I believe it’s time we amend the 1987 charter and adopt a Federal form of government, together with a Parliament, to achieve that goal of having all Filipinos have a voice in government.
Under a Federal form of government, with the country now having 14 regions, together with the BARMM or the Bansamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and the CAR or Cordillera Autonomous Region, I believe we would enhance the kind of democracy we want.
The President and the Vice President would have to be elected at large, and for the routine elements of government we can have a Prime Minister to be elected by the Parliament.
I believe that without a Senate, that often makes the enactment of laws difficult, Parliament would be a more efficient body to enact laws.
Our need for check and balances would remain with the continued maintenance of the judiciary, whose appointment of a Supreme Court Chief Justice would remain with the associate justices, and the members of the Supreme Court would be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.
Yes, the 1987 Constitution would have to be completely and totally overhauled.
There’s no Constitution in the world that is etched in stone that cannot be overhauled.
It would need the approval by the people in a plebiscite called for that purpose.
There’s a need for us to overhaul the 1987 charter, which to me has become oppressive and Jurassic in many ways, and is crying out for a total overhaul.
It’s also for this reason why I’m glad we have somebody in the Senate like Robin Padilla as chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes pushing for Federalism.
He may not have succeeded in his first try at charter amendments last year, but knowing Padilla, the time will come when the people will realize a total overhaul of the charter will provide the people more representation.
In fact, Padilla should let just a couple of years pass for him to renew his advocacy. Perhaps after the 2025 elections?