Davide warns of tyranny of supermajority

(right) Former Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. INQUIRER.net / CATHY MIRANDA

Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. on Wednesday warned that the supermajority in the House of Representatives could easily railroad proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution to be able to shift to federalism.

At a Senate hearing, Davide, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, raised doubts about the supermajority’s capability to act with thorough deliberation due to their political loyalty.

He pointed out that following the 2016 elections, there was a rash of party switching in the House, with many of its members joining the dominant party, PDP-Laban, which was campaigning for federalism.

“When a matter is done like that way, I doubt very much if the supermajority now can act with thorough deliberation on a matter [that] the party itself had considered to be a platform, a part of its proposal,” Davide said.

‘Best in the world’

He also strongly opposed amending the Constitution, saying it remains “the best in the world” despite its imperfections.

Davide responded to Sen. Risa Hontiveros’ questions about how deliberations on amendments to the Constitution proceeded during his time and about his expectations in current moves to revise the Charter under a Congress dominated by allies of President Duterte.

“I would suppose that you cannot expect much. I would like to say and repeat that it can easily be railroaded by those in power in the … House,” he said.

Davide said records of the 1986 Constitutional Commission  showed that debates on issues amid the clamor for change following the restoration of democracy were sometimes emotional but “exceptionally deliberative and objective.”

Unlike the supermajority in the House, the members of the commission were chosen regardless of their political attachment and loyalties.

‘Keep on fighting’

“So they were free to discuss on all matters. Many of them were quite old and so you can just see what they have in mind, which was to leave a legacy, a Constitution that can really work for generations yet to come,” he said.

But former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr., founder of PDP-Laban, said that while it was difficult to be a minority in Congress, it should not allow any supermajority to trample on its rights to speak out.

“Whether you are a minority or not, keep on fighting because that is what the people expect you to do,” he said.