Rep. Raul del Mar: We can speed up the Concon

When Senate President Franklin Drilon made mention that the call for Charter changes was "dead in the water", actually, he meant this for the efforts being pushed by the majority of Congressmen to turn itself into a constituent assembly (CA). He said this because the majority in the Senate favored the calling of a Constitutional convention (Concon).

Last Friday, I met Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City North District) during the blessing of the newly-renovated commercial offices of the Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Company (PLDT) along Osmena Blvd., and quite coincidentally, The Philippine STAR featured him on that very day in a story bylined by Efren Danao entitled, "Cha-Cha an exercise in futility, lawmakers says". So I asked Raul what that was all about and he told me that in a privilege speech, he told his colleagues in Congress to stop insisting in calling for a CA as this was a sheer waste of time and effort because it will never get pass the Senate. Rep. Del Mar was asking his peers in Congress to be practical and realistic.

Del Mar somehow convinced his colleagues to come up with a deadline on this move and if all else fails by June… then, they should start looking for the only other way to change the charter through a Constitutional convention (Concon). This is what I like in Raul… he’s fighting Congress for what he believes despite the fact that he belongs to the minority in Congress who believes in a Concon. The rest have voted for a CA. But Raul knows his politics and took a bold step to ask his peers to stop selling a CA because no one’s buying it!

Again, let me point out clearly, that there is a clamor for genuine reforms that seems to be reverberating throughout the country. However it is unfortunate that the 12th Congress also hears this call, except that they have arrogated unto themselves this task of changing the charter when the reality is the Filipino people don’t trust Congress to change our charter. If there’s anyone the Filipino would trust, it would be the duly elected delegates to a Concon. This is why proponents for a CA are saying that a Concon is a waste of time, because it would be at least ten years before these reforms can be put in place.

But apparently, Rep. Raul del Mar was given a new wisdom that holding a Concon won’t necessarily be long. He believes that it can just be as fast as holding a CA. He says that we can shorten the process by calling for a Concon elections by July on one singular purpose to change our system of government into a federal and parliamentary system. Well, our readers know too well that while we are all for a federal system, we are not yet completely sold on a parliamentary. That’s because many parliamentary systems haven’t been working in the countries using this system.

But then, Rep. Simeon Kintanar (Cebu d District) who was also at the PLDT affair talking with PLDT CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan, joined our discussion and we all agreed that a parliamentary system could work in this country for as long as we return to the two-party system. Bingo! That could do the trick! Indeed, one of the ills of our present Constitution was the shifting into a multi-party system where it has become some sort of popularity contest rather than a contest of abilities or talents. For as long as safeguards are made against turncoatism… I believe we can whip out a new kind of politics this way… a politics with a real ideology for the Filipino people… not just the poor, but for all Filipinos.

While all this is easier said than done, Rep. Del Mar believes that holding a Concon will not necessarily be expensive. He suggests that we can limit the delegates to one per district and that whosoever gets elected as a Concon delegate can share the office and staff of the congressman of that district. That solves the problem of having an office and staff for the Concon delegates. He further suggests that the Concon can use the plenary hall for sessions from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., while Congress can use the plenary hall from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., while the meeting rooms can be scheduled for the Concon from 4 to 8 p.m. because Congress only uses it from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Rep. Del Mar is also proposing that the time frame for the effectivity of amendments can be ready for 2004 elections and this can be achieved with the election of Concon delegates this coming June; that’s a five month period from August 1 to Dec.15 to draft the amendments wherein a plebiscite can be called by Feb. 16. Now doesn’t that sound quite a bit too speedy? Can we really put in place a new constitution even before the 2004 elections?

Well, this is up to those who believe that we need genuine reforms as soon as possible. But if it cannot be had through a constituent assembly, then the only game in town is the one being proposed by Rep. Raul del Mar.