Con-com votes to disallow secession of regions from PH
The Consultative Committee tasked by President Duterte to draft a federal Constitution votes to finalize the proposed amendment of the Preamble. (Photo by Julius N. Leonen / INQUIRER.net)
The Consultative Committee (Con-com) reviewing the 1987 Constitution has voted to prohibit any secession of federated regions from the republic in the new federal Charter.
In an en banc session on Wednesday, the Con-com voted unanimously to finalize the proposed amendment of the Preamble, which would mandate a “permanent and indissoluble nation.”
Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, chairman of the Con-com, defined “permanent and indissoluble” as having “no right to secede” from the government.
“The pledge not to secede is ultra important, for today the world is beset by the problem of secession of states,” Puno said as he cast his vote in favor of the proposed Preamble.
“Our Preamble proposes a union that is indissoluble, a federalism that is permanent, a bond that is eternal. This is not just a grandiose play words but a pledge by all our people,” the former chief magistrate stressed.
The amendment also mandates the Filipino people to establish not only a just and humane society, but also a “united and progressive” one.
The Con-com’s full proposed amendment of the Preamble and National Sovereignty reads as follows:
“We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, to build a permanent and indissoluble nation and establish a just, humane, united and progressive society under a federal government that shall embody our shared ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution of the Federal Republic of the Philippines.” /jpv
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