It’s pretty sad that amending the Constitution is always equated with the desire to tinker with it purely for personal advantage – like term limit extensions. It’s even more saddening when people who have advocated charter change in the past suddenly cry bloody murder when someone else proposes it.
The thing is, there ought to be an easier way to amend the Constitution because, let’s face it, the drafters were not wise enough to have crafted a document that would remain true and relevant forever. Some things that might have made sense then no longer make sense now. And why should our ability to meet the needs of today be circumscribed by the biases and fears of yesterday?
With even greater reason then, do I reject the notion that our ability to re-invigorate the Charter should be held hostage by our fear of what one person might or might not do under a revised Constitution. It’s absurd to condemn the nation to just making do or working around the unreasonable limitations of the Constitution, simply because no one wants GMA to be Prime Minister.
Now comes the new President with his idea to form a Cha-cha Commission. Sounds good. But then, having dangled the bait, he switches:
Aquino said the proposal to amend the 1987 Constitution needs serious study. However, he said the creation of a Cha-cha commission will have to wait since his administration will prioritize addressing the country’s fiscal situation.
“Forming the Cha-cha commission is not the priority. Inuna ko ang truth commission. Sana bigyan tayo ng konting oras dahil ang dami na kailangan gawin sabay sabay and the first priority has to be the fiscal situation of the country. Ano pa nga ba ang natitira sa kaban ng bayan para pantustos sa pangangailangan ng bayan?” Aquino told reporters in an ambush interview.
Well, sure. But:
1. The proposal to call a CONCON has already been filed in the House. Is Congress now supposed to wait on the President’s commission before acting on the proposition filed by GMA?
2. What weight will a Cha-cha Commission’s output have anyway? Are Congressmen and members of the Constitutional Convention expected to parrot that Commission’s recommendations?
3. Can’t a Cha-cha Commission conduct its own study in parallel with any other commission, doing whatever other study is assigned to it? Surely, we aren’t one-task-at-a-time government?
It seems to me that a Cha-cha Commission might be a superfluity, or at most, merely a way of defining the Executive’s stand on the issue. Whatever it is, Congress shouldn’t pussyfoot around the issue any longer. I mean, heck, even the COMELEC has some thoughts on how the current provisions relating to the Constitutional Commissions can be better. So, what’re we waiting for?
Let’s open the dang debates already!