Edsa and the Constitution
Issues of freedom of information and accountability of public officers prevail today, particularly in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona in the Senate.
The nitty gritty of the impeachment trial may have begun to wear down the public and the senator-judges themselves, who would like to speed up the process, but from a wider perspective there is cause for appreciation of this time of testing of our democratic institutions.
Without these tests, we would not be able to assess the strength of our freedoms and its workings within the parameters set by the 1987 Constitution. The Charter is a major product of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, whose 26th anniversary the nation begins celebrating today until Saturday, Feb. 25.
The “Cory Constitution,” overwhelmingly ratified by the people in 1987, made possible the scrutiny through impeachment of even the chief of the Supreme Court court, the tribunal of last resort.
Impeachment is supposed to be a way out of conflicts such as the current one between Malacañang and a High Court chief who is viewed as a collaborator of a former president who is under arrest for her alleged crimes against the people.
It is now up to the players in the trial, including the senator-jurors and prosecution and defense teams to prove the Constitution, its framers and the generation who promulgated it sufficient.
It is also up to our lawmakers to take the Constitution on its own terms on the issue of public officials’ accountability, an issue that emerged in the debate over the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth of the Chief Justice.
The Palace has submitted its own version of the Freedom of Information Act, which would provide guidelines on making public transactions an documents visible to the sovereign people.
Lawmakers cannot afford to be slow to pass this law.
In a simpler age, no enabling law would be needed to give constituents access to public documents and information about officials. The word of the Constitution would suffice.
If Edsa I were as fresh as yesterday in the mind of the majority, there would be little in the way of ensuring transparency, for any politician would be aware that he would spell his own doom by hiding secrets, inasmuch as president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos became the architect of his own downfall by keeping the public in the dark.
