What do people want in a new Constitution?

Last Tuesday’s regional consultations by the Consultative Commission was a rare political exercise that few Filipinos had ever tasted or experienced before. If you recall, the last discussion on changing the Constitution where the ordinary Filipino folk were involved, was done 34 years ago during the 1971 Constitutional Convention (Con-con). But then, the conjugal Marcos dictatorship monkeyed with that Constitution, like he did with the 1935 Constitution when he threw it out with the kitchen sink when Martial Law was declared. Hence, the 1973 Constitution became the Marcos Constitution for it served only the purposes of the Marcos family. It had to be changed when the People Power Revolt won against the dictatorship in 1986.

When the sainted (back then, she could do no wrong!) Cory Aquino became President, she took the reins of government as a revolutionary because she wasn’t backed by any Constitution. The late Vice President Salvador "Doy" Laurel suggested a quick fix solution, which was to bring back the 1935 Constitution. But the people surrounding Tita Cory had other plans; after all, they knew they could sell the Filipino people anything they concocted and they decided to make their own, appointing 49 Constitutional Commissioners to do the job. Thus was born the 1987 "Cory" Constitution.

So the big question is, why hasn’t the Cory Constitution improved the country’s economy or even assured us of political stability? I’m sure everyone has his own reasons why this is so. Mine is a simple one… since the 1987 Constitution was created and ratified without any consultation with the Filipino people, in the end, only the vested interests of the people surrounding (as Sir Max would say, the "We Bulong Brigade") Tita Cory came out of the 1987 Constitution.

Thus, we have a Constitution that ushered the return of the oligarchy that controlled big business, utilities and the media and in turn, they also controlled our politicians. We have a Constitution that did not respect the ethnolinguistic and cultural diversity of our people. Thus, Tagalog was "forced" on the Filipino people under the guise of Pilipino, our national language, to the detriment of the other mainstream languages being spoken by the people outside Metro Manila. English was even frowned upon.

Understandably, the 1987 Constitution sort of institutionalized "People Power"; after all, this Constitution was the offspring of the EDSA Revolt. Thus, when another People Power, this time against the corrupt Erap administration, was hatched, it was easy enough to remove him from power… thus, regime change, without the benefit of elections, also became institutionalized. But has all this brought about the necessary changes that will finally usher in good governance in this country so we can finally catch up with the rest of ASEAN and the world? Unfortunately, it hasn’t.

Now we’re in the midst of a political crisis brought about by massive disinformation, lies and political treachery and what does the opposition want… snap elections. Yes, those misguided people believe that changing the President would turn this country into a better one! How wrong they are! What we need today is genuine political reform… a top-to-bottom overhaul of our political system, something that the con-com is trying to do. Hence, they are barnstorming the nation to consult with the Filipino people (how I wish they were a constitutional convention) to get ideas on what the people really want.

On the table are simple decisions to make. One is whether we should retain the present presidential/unitary form of government, which you and I know is no longer working for the good of the people. On the other side of the coin, there are proposals for a parliamentary/federal system, which has been working in other nations for many years now, but untested here in the Philippines. But then, what do the people out there really want?

Last Tuesday’s consultations with the Cebuanos was attended by the leaders of various sectors or groups (mind you, there are people who complained why this was held at the plush Waterfront Hotel, saying the place was not accessible to the ordinary folk), farmers’ groups, fisherfolk, NGOs, business groups, the IBP, the women’s sector and even groups belonging to the military and the police. You can say that it was a good cross section of the society.

Here are just some of the suggestions worth noting that directly came from the participants that we gathered during that consultation meeting. Perhaps, the most unanimous desire of the people was the abolition of the pork barrel, which they wanted put in the new Constitution. For the people, it doesn’t matter whether the House or the Senate is retained or whether we shift to a parliamentary or unicameral system… they just did not want legislators to have access to public money to distribute as they so willed.

Thus, you can say that the Filipino people want our legislators to enact laws only and they would be paid handsome salaries for this work. For sure, most legislators run for public office because of the lure of the pork barrel. I’d like to find out if politicians would still run for Congress or as a Member of Parliament (MP) if they knew they’d only get paid salaries for that office? I’m sure it would "depoliticize" our legislature!

As to the lure of a parliamentary system, the people like it simply because elections would now be cheaper for the candidates seeking office because they would be running only in their respective districts and only the MPs would elect the Prime Minister. There was a proposal to bring this down to the provincial, city and municipal levels, where only legislators would be elected into office, and in turn, only the city, provincial or municipal council would elect their mayor or governor or even hire a professional city manager… like they do in other countries.

During discussions on term limits, the passionate desire of the people came out against political dynasties. But in all, what they really wanted to have is total overhaul of our electoral system, which would guarantee honest elections. Many argue that true public servants who serve their constituents should be allowed to serve as long as the people want them to serve. It is when the politicians cheat so as to perpetuate themselves in power that the electorate is offended. Hence, there is a need for a new electoral process.

* * *

For e-mail responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talk show, "Straight from the Sky," shown every Monday, at 8 p.m., only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 of SkyCable.