Self-preservation forces Senate to dance the Cha-cha

Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri has changed his tune and has finally agreed to revise the 1987 Constitution. Talk about self-preservation.

Self-preservation or survival is one of the basic human instincts and this is perhaps what has driven the Senate President to finally dance the Cha-cha or Charter change and amend our nearly four-decades-old Charter.

Why did Zubiri, initially against such moves, change his stance? He himself said he was concerned about the ongoing People’s Initiative, which has been gaining ground. This is a mode of amending the Charter through a signature campaign which, if successful, could render the Senate useless.

This signature campaign to change the 1987 Constitution would have Congress vote jointly when convened as a constituent assembly.

When this happens, said Noel Oñate, national lead convenor of People’s Initiative for Reform Modernization and Action (PIRMA), the Senate will practically be a lame duck institution as the Senate vote would be diluted.

Against this backdrop, an anxious Zubiri said in a Jan. 15 press conference:

“While we respect and recognize the people as our sovereign, with the right to call for constitutional change, we must guard against any attempt to revise the Constitution by exploiting our democratic process under the guise of a people’s initiative.”

Zubiri said he and Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda met President Marcos and the leadership of the House on Jan. 11 in Malacañang, before the vin d’honneur, to raise their concerns against the People’s Initiative.

Win-win solution

After the meeting, Zubiri said they arrived at a “win-win solution,” which is that the Senate will lead the move to amend the economic provisions of the Charter.

Indeed, four days later, a joint congressional resolution was filed in the Senate by Zubiri, together with Senators Legarda and Sonny Angara, to call for the revision of provisions in the Charter.

Some of the proposed changes are on national economy and patrimony; education, science and technology, arts, culture and sports; and the general provisions.

The overall goal is to to allow greater foreign ownership in public utilities and education services.

As the Senate proposed, the critical change would be putting the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law.”

This was also what was earlier proposed during the past administration by House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco when the House, at the time, was also moving to amend economic provisions of the Charter.

To put it simply, this clause would open sectors of the economy to greater, if not full, foreign ownership if Congress passes a law allowing such. It will give Congress the leeway to amend those provisions to conform with present economic and technological conditions.

Economic provisions

Some of the country’s local businessmen have long been clamoring for amendments in the economic provisions of the Constitution.

To a certain extent, I see the wisdom of liberalizing some of these provisions, say in education or in the media, but certainly not the exploitation of our natural resources.

But in the case of the Senate, it is apparent that the current political reality – rather than economic reasons – is what prompted the 180-degree change in its direction.

Zubiri himself described as “too divisive” the newly revived People’s Initiative. Such a route could lead to legislative paralysis.

On the other hand, he said, having the Senate take the lead in amending the economic provisions of the Charter would preserve the bicameral nature of legislation.

It’s clear that this is all about self preservation. It’s a basic survival instinct among humans which, as the Senate is now proving, also holds true for political institutions.

On the other hand, the signature campaign continues.

PIRMA’s Oñate is confident they would succeed this time, noting that they almost succeeded before, during the Ramos administration.

They will continue to gather signatures, he said, even with Zubiri’s resolution.

“If the people say yes, who will go against the will of the people?” Oñate told me by phone.
Clearly, there are many things happening all at the same time – the People’s Initiative campaign and Zubiri’s resolution.

What happens next is anybody’s guess. We will wait and see if Zubiri and the Senate will keep their word.

After all, more than 350 measures have already been filed by the House to amend the 1987 Constitution. Not one was acted upon by the Senate.

What makes it any different now? The senators are jittery and are driven by self-preservation.

The ball is now in the Senate’s court. Will they finally move to reform the Charter’s economic provisions or will it be another measure that would gather dust?

Uncertain times

What is clear for now is that we are living in uncertain times. Sure, some changes in the economic provisions of the Constitution may help our economy move forward but at the end of the day this is all being done in a hurry and it’s easy to see it’s happening in the name of political survival.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.