Con-com says leaked federal Charter drafts ‘unofficial’

Drafts of the proposed federal Constitution being circulated online are merely working copies, not the official and final copy approved by President Rodrigo Duterte’s charter change committee.

The Consultative Committee (Con-com) issued this clarification on Wednesday after netizens have claimed that copies circulating online were the final and approved draft.

Con-com spokesman Ding Generoso said the committee has yet to release the full and final copy of the approved draft as it still needs to be submitted to President Duterte.

He also questioned the authenticity of the documents because the Committee has not released a copy of the drafts.

“The June 27 and June 30 .pdf files of the draft Constitution being circulated in the Internet are not the official and final copy and do not contain further corrections made during the en banc meeting on June 28 and those submitted by members through e-mail on July 1 and 2,” Generoso said in a statement.

“Both documents were working files, the consolidation of the different articles that had been undergoing daily corrections as the sessions were held,” he stressed.

Generoso added that the leaked drafts were not released publicly because they are still being edited for style and proofread for consistency before submission to Duterte on or before July 9.

“(The draft circulated online) does not contain yet the comments and corrections some members sent by email on July 1 and 2,” Generoso said. “There were still some corrections that the members suggested on the morning of July 3 before the voting took place.”

Netizens started leaking the drafts on social media on Wednesday through a Google Drive link. /ee