Enrile mulls revising Constitution but only to address poverty

Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile believes that the time has come for Congress to revise the 1987 Constitution to address the worsening problem of poverty in the country but clarified that it was only mentioned in passing in a conversation with Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.

“Kaming dalawa ni Speaker, nag usap kami na panahon na rebisahin ang Saligang Batas [The Speaker and I, we talked that it was time to revise the Constitution],” Enrile revealed during a weekly forum in the Senate on Thursday.

“Basta pinag-usapan lang namin, wala pang set mind dyan [It’s that we just talked about it, nothing has been set] but something must be done. We can go on and on like this, talk about poverty without doing the very substantial thing really to address the poverty,” he said.

Enrile said that he was simply “provoking” a discussion on the matter, and not endorsing it to be a priority of Congress when it opens its second regular session in July.

“I’m advocating that the nation must be enlightened enough to discuss this…I’m not saying it’s a priority. I’m talking an enlightened discussion on a very basic issue,” he said.

In calling for Charter change discussion, Enrile said the focus should only be on the provisions, such as the 60-40 ownership, which would provide more jobs for Filipinos and therefore reduce the poverty problem in the country.

“Huwag nang galawin ang structure ng gobyerno [Let us not tackle the structure of government],” Enrile said.

“Huwag nang pag-usapan ang position ng Presidente, Vice Presidente, senador at mga congressmen [Let us not talk about the position of the president, vice President, senators and congressmen],” Enrile added.