Lacson to propose establishment of constitutional court

Senator Panfilo Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday said he will propose the creation of a constitutional court if the Constitution will be amended.

“Many countries have established constitutional courts and the oldest constitutional court is the US SC…a constitutional court is designed to unclog cases lodged in the SC (Supreme Court) regarding constitutional issue,” he told reporters in a weekly forum in the Senate.

Lacson said that the constitutional court may be composed of retired SC justices who are still capable of trying cases.

He added that President Benigno Aquino III may choose who he will be appointed to the proposed new court.

Lacson said that creating this new court will help unclog cases in the high court which has more or less 1,000 pending cases.

“How can you resolve all those cases especially those that involve prisoners in Muntinulpa awaiting final decision from SC?” he pointed out.

Lacson cited an example the case of high-profile Vizconde Massacre in the ’90s in which the prime suspect, Hubert Webb, waited for 15 years before being acquitted by the high tribunal.

“What if a prisoner is innocent? It’s grave injustice if the case remains pending in the Supreme Court simply due to congestion in the dockets…so let’s move these to the constitutional court,” Lacson said.

He added that he will propose the creation of the new court to Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile who has been pushing for the amendment of the Constitution.

But Enrile is only focusing on tweaking the economic provisions of the Constitution.

Nevertheless, Lacson said that Enrile is “open” to the idea of having a Constitutional Court.

Lacson said he is also aware of President Benigno Aquino III’s apprehension that the temptation to touch the political provision in the Constitution is high if charter amendments will be allowed.

He expressed confidence that charter change may be finished within a year but he foresees fierce debates if this will be done through a constituent assembly. He added that it has not yet been resolved whether both houses of Congress will vote separately or jointly.

“If voting jointly I’m sure the Senate won’t participate; we would be eaten alive 24 vs 200+, and our vote will be useless,” he said.