Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said on Thursday a plebiscite might take place even before the May 2019 midterm elections should Congress agree quickly on the shift to a federal form of government and other proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
Pimentel, a member of the ruling party, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), said that for “practical” reasons, the plebiscite to ratify the amendments is better held in May 2019 with the hope that by that time, Congress would already have a concrete proposal on Charter change.
“But for example, if the bipartisan product is so simple, a one-paragraph proposal to the people, and it is ready by June or July this year, why wait for May 2019, when we can schedule a stand-alone plebiscite on the proposal?” he said in a press conference at the launch of the book “The Quest for a Federal Republic” at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.
Pimentel also allayed suspicions that the federalism will lead to double taxation, since there will be two levels of government.
The Senate President said the final draft will provide for a “very clear distribution” of the government’s taxation powers. He said he propose that mobile sources of income will be the one taxed by the national government, while non-mobile sources will be the ones taxed by the regional governments.
Pimentel also lashed critics of Charter change who are “alarmists” and engaged in the “politics of fear” saying ascribing evil motives to efforts to amend the constitution was rude.
“Did we ever use the word ‘heaven’? How come they are using the word ‘hell’ in [opposing] federalism? We are all realists here. Federalism will not solve the Philippines’ problems, but it will solve many or all of the problems related to the structure [of the unitary government]. That’s it. The problem of bad manners, however, will not be solved by federalism,” he said.
He said the current Charter, even if describe by some as the “best constitution in the world” should not be “static,” adding, “Governance is an experiment. Situations change and we should be open to changes.”
He said the distribution of political power, equitable development, improvement of the quality of life of every Filipino, and other benefits that the shift to federalism aims for would be enjoyed “in our lifetime,” something that the 30-year-old unitary system provided by the current Charter have so far failed to give.
Pimentel also said he expects by March a report from the hearings of Charter change proposals conducted by the Senate committee of constitutional amendments. He said the legislators should also be open to the output of the consultative committee created by President Duterte to review the Constitution since the body’s efforts will be funded by taxpayers’ money.
Two members of the committee, Dr. Julio Teehankee and Professor Edmund Tayao, who are contributing authors of the book, along with Dr. Wilfrido Villacorta, former diplomat and a member of the constitutional commission that drafted the current Charter, also attended the book launch.
Villacorta said the Charter change being pushed by the Duterte administration was timely as many aspirations of the current constitution have yet to be achieved.
Teehankee said the push for Charter change should be dominated by intelligent debate and not turned into a “national political drama or crisis.”
The 345-page book is published by the PDP-Laban Federalism Institute with the help of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Philippines and the Cotabato City-based Institute of Autonomy and Governance.
PDP-Laban has been a consistent advocate of federalism.
The editor of the book, interior assistant secretary and PDP-Laban Federalism Institute executive director Jonathan Malaya, described Charter change as “a march towards democratization”.
He said proponents of federalism were motivated by their desire to improve peoples’ lives and the political system.
“There is no monopoly of wisdom and love of country in the Philippines,” he said.
Other contributing authors of the book are former secretary Gary Teves, former Commission on Higher Education member Alex Brillantes Jr., Ramon Casiple of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, lawyer Alberto Oxales Jr., Eduardo Araral Jr., Romulo Miral Jr. and Orion Perez Dumdum. /jpv