‘EDSA goals will remain elusive unless Charter amended’

The goals of the 1986 people power revolt will remain elusive unless the Philippine Constitution is amended and the country adopts a parliamentary system of government, Jose Abueva, who chaired a panel that recommended several amendments to the 1987 Charter, said on the eve of the EDSA I celebrations.

Abueva, who chaired the recent consultative commission picked by President Arroyo, said the current US-style presidential system has failed to ensure stability, pointing out that a popular uprising toppled Mrs. Arroyo’s predecessor, Joseph Estrada, as recently as 2001.

"We are grateful for people power I as it brought down dictatorship and restored democracy. But the 1987 Constitution and people power have not brought the promise of EDSA, which was freedom, justice and democracy. We may have freedom but not justice and our democracy is failing," said Abueva, a former president of the state-run University of the Philippines.

"We have not realized its promises. We will not realize these unless we change our social institutions and have good governance. And the only way to have good governance is to change the institutions by revising the Constitution," he said.

Mrs. Arroyo and other Charter change proponents want a shift to a federal parliamentary system of government, saying it would speed up passage of needed legislation and, eventually, the country’s development.

A federal system has also gained favor among provincial governments that have long been dissatisfied over the dominance of "Imperial Manila."

Government economists also say that the Constitution is not attuned to the market-based economy and gives too much power to the judiciary, which could effectively scuttle the government’s economic policies.

However, public opposition fueled by memories of the brutal Marcos dictatorship has blocked previous Cha-cha attempts during the administrations of Fidel Ramos and Estrada. Filipinos fear that constitutional limits on public officials’ terms may be scrapped.

The present Constitution was put in place in 1987 after Marcos was toppled the previous year. — With Katherine Adraneda