‘Cha-cha may lead to dictatorship’

MANILA, Philippines - Constitutionalist Christian Monsod warned the people yesterday that amending the Constitution under President Duterte could lead to authoritarianism.

Monsod, a member of the Constitutional Commission that drafted the 1987 Charter, said the problems facing the nation could be solved without having to shift to federalism as Duterte has been pushing Congress to do.

He said based on Duterte’s campaign promises of fighting crime, including drugs; speedy delivery of basic services; peace with communist and separatist Muslim rebels and inclusive growth – none of these require a shift to a federal system.

“If so, why is the Duterte administration pushing for federalism? Because federalism is really a Trojan horse for a major overhaul, if not a rewriting, of the Constitution to suit not just his agenda for change, which I believe is pro-poor, but also his authoritarian ways of governing, which is the wrong means to that end,” Monsod told the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, chaired by Sen. Franklin Drilon, yesterday.

He said among the constitutional revisions would be the power to declare martial law the way the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos could, which would also require revisiting the Supreme Court power of judicial review in addition to removing the safeguards in Article VII, Section 18.

“A major conclusion of this paper is that Charter change towards authoritarianism, even if well meaning, imperils our democracy and should not be allowed to happen,” Monsod said.

Monsod clarified that he is not against Charter change as there are reforms that could enhance democracy, such as block voting for president and vice president, a run-off for president/vice-president if necessary, amendments on the composition and functioning of the Judicial and Bar Council, the removal of the quasi-judicial function of the Commission on Elections, additional provisions to recognize and protect the archipelagic character of the country’s territory.