Palace takes Cha-cha plan to Senate

Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte AP Photo/Martin Mejia

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the creation of a committee that would study provisions of the 1987 Constitution ripe for amendment, an initial step toward a shift to federalism.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea disclosed this to the Senate yesterday as the chamber’s committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes held its first hearing on measures seeking to amend the Constitution in support of one of the President’s key legislative targets.

He said the President is expecting the committee’s output six months from composition.

“The Office of the President finds the need for a revision of the Constitution in light of his public statements on the desirability of adopting a federal form of government, among others,” Medialdea told the committee led by Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon.

“As to the provisions of the Constitution that may be amended, the President has issued the other day an  executive order (EO) creating the committee for a consultative study of the Constitution,” said the official.

The EO, a copy of which has yet to be released, mandates a 25-member multisectoral committee to study parts of the 29-year-old basic law that needs revision.

Medialdea said the President has also ordered the submission of nominations to the body “from different sectors.”

He said the President already aired at a National Security Council meeting that he preferred a constituent assembly. Under this mode, members of Congress would convene themselves into the reframers of the Constitution.

“The mode of doing it should be through constituent assembly, citing efficiency, costs and the credibility of results. As to the matter of voting, he (the President) said both Houses should vote separately, but we would require further legal study to determine the intent of the framers of the Constitution,” Medialdea said.

Drilon and Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri have separate pending bills calling for a constitutional convention, said to be a costlier mode of constitutional reform. This would require Congress to issue a Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) calling for the convention, whose members would be elected by the public.

Initial estimates pegged the cost of convening a constituent assembly at  P2 billion, while a constitutional convention could cost between P6 billion and P7 billion.

Among areas initially considered for amendment are provisions covering the form of government and economic provisions that limit foreign ownership of enterprise in the Philippines.

The hearing gathered experts from different sectors— former legislators and jurists, local government officials and representatives from the business sector—to give their take on the proposal, among the Duterte administration’s legislative priorities.