Puno: Proposed federal charter expands meaning of human rights

To ease concerns about the disappearance of “human rights” from the Declaration of  Principles and State Policies in the proposed federal Constitution, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno said the definition of the concept was actually expanded in the draft Charter.

Puno, chair of the consultative committee created by President Duterte to revise the 1987 Constitution, on Saturday said critics were merely “nitpicking” about the omission of the term.

“In our draft Constitution, we actually broadened the definition of human rights,” he said in a symposium organized by Partido Federal ng Pilipinas. “These are far from the protections given by the 1987 Constitution to Filipinos.”

The present Constitution says the State “values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights.”

In the proposed charter, the phrase “full respect for human rights” was replaced by “full respect for the person and the right of all citizens to participate in all government process.”

Three categories

Puno maintained that even without the explicit use of the term, the draft Charter expanded the meaning of human rights in the new Bill of Rights.

He said the proposed Bill of Rights had 28 sections — six more than what is provided by the present Constitution — divided into three categories: civil and political rights, social and economic rights, and environmental and ecological rights.

He said the proposed Constitution protected the first, second and third “generations” of human rights.

The first generation refers to civil and political rights, while the second generation covers socioeconomic rights. The third generation goes beyond civil and social rights.

The current Constitution guarantees only the first generation, according to Puno.

Puno said that the draft Charter gave more power to the Commission on Human Rights.

The proposed Federal Commission on Human Rights can investigate and recommend the prosecution of both state and nonstate actors.

It can also establish a witness protection program, which only the Department of Justice can grant at present, he said.

Warning

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), which is critical of the Duterte administration’s human rights record, warns that the proposed Constitution could lead to “strongman rule.”

In a statement on Friday, the group said the proposed Charter’s transitory provision would grant the President absolute power over the three branches of government through the transition commission that would be set up.

“Despite being cushioned by good and progressive provisions here and there, it effectively grants the incumbent authoritarian powers [and] gives his transition commission the legislative powers to promulgate laws and decrees,” the group said.

NUPL also said the proposed Constitution would allow the President6 to appoint all members of the independent Constitutional Commissions and “practically thousands of government officials, which could include the judiciary, while exercising both executive and legislative powers.”

‘Lawless violence’

The group also questioned the expansion of the basis for the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus to include “lawless violence,” which would become a ground for declaring martial law under the proposed Constitution.

“The Filipino experience under the Marcos dictatorship and the arbitrary and wanton exercise of this power under the incumbent President are experiences that should never happen again, much less constitutionalized,” the group said.

Puno said the opposition to the draft Constitution was due to a lack of information, which could be dealt with by a massive information drive once it is endorsed by the President.

A recent survey showed 7 out of 10 Filipinos oppose federalism.

Several university heads and more than 500 academics from various schools also were against a constituent assembly to change the Charter, saying the abundance of political dynasties in Congress created conflicts of interest.