THE President’s 22-member Consultative committee (Con-com) on Tuesday voted unanimously in its 15th en banc session to approve the entire draft of the federal constitution.
The draft constitution, which adopts a federal-presidential form of government, is expected to be submitted to the President on July 9 to give the Chief Executive time to review the draft before his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 23.
Results of the nominal voting also showed eight members voting in the affirmative but with reservations and one member voting yes with concern.
Con-com members who voted with reservation were Prof. Eddie M. Alih, Atty. Ali Balindong, Atty. Roan I. Libarios, Atty. Randolph C. Parcasio, Atty. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., Retired Associate Justice Bienvenido L. Reyes, and Atty. Victor de la Serna and Atty. Laurence B. Wacnang.
Con-com member and Chairman of Subcommittee on Economic Reforms Arthur N. Aguilar voted yes with concern on the structure of the federated regions not granting more power for the current local government, as well as on restrictions on land ownership. The cryptic wording of the Constitution on the economy could be construed as a move toward socialism and give a wrong message to the business community, in his view.
The President handpicked the Con-com members in a bid to shift the form of government from unitary to federal. Federalism advocates believe that this form of government will spur economic growth across all regions and not just in “imperial Manila.”
Con-com is hoping that the President will endorse their draft during his Sona.
However, Con-com Chairman and retired Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno said as of this writing he is still not sure whether the draft will be approved in totality by the President because he said they were just told to give their best efforts to craft it.
“We did, so we tried our best. But with respect to its approval, I am not sure,” Puno told reporters in a chance interview.
Asked which of the provisions he is most proud of, Puno pointed to the allocation of powers between the federal and regional government, especially the division of the taxing powers.
“This is the most important because it will spell the success or the failure of federalism that we installed in our constitution,” he said. “If the allocation of powers is wrong, you can expect a failure on the part of the federal government that we established.”
Puno reiterated that the Con-com’s work is just recommendatory, as this will still pass the critical eye of the President and Congress, but he said he is confident that Congress will consider well their recommendations.
“We did our best for the country. We have been submitting these various recommendations to the people, to the media and so far, the reaction is positive on the part of the public,” he said.
Puno expects the plebiscite to be held by middle of 2019. But he said he prefers that the plebiscite be held separately from the 2019 mid-term elections so that the people will have time to understand the new constitution.
“Although the finance managers will always be thinking of the extra cost, as far as I am concerned, the best method is to have people ratify this constitution on a stand-alone basis,” he said. Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. said in a briefing on Monday that the President, as PDP-Laban chairman, will transmit the draft of the federal constitution to his party mates.
“And he will encourage his party mates to study it very closely, and if possible, to pattern the proposed revisions after what the Commission has recommended. But ultimately, of course, it is the members of Congress who will approve whether or not they will adopt the proposed revisions,” Roque said. “But we recognize that the decision ultimately will lie with the individual members of the House of Representatives and the Senate,” he added.
Under the draft federal constitution, Con-com is proposing the following: self-executing anti-political dynasty provisions, ban on political turncoatism, elevation of Philippine Competition Commission and Commission on Human Rights as constitutional commissions, voting in tandem for the president and vice president, mandatory appointment of the vice president in the Cabinet, two senators to be elected per region, increasing the members of House of Representatives to 400, establishment of a Federal Supreme Court, Federal Constitutional Court, Federal Administrative Court and Federal Electoral Tribunal, keeping the ban on foreign ownership of land and allowing Congress to liberalize foreign ownership restriction, among others. The 78-page draft constitution approved by the Committee consists of 22 articles. The 1987 Constitution now in effect consists of 18 articles.