DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 26 February) – The aim of those who want to change the 1987 Constitution is political rather than economic and this “fraud” must be exposed in various fora and in campuses, retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said on Sunday.
“It’s a fraud. That’s why we have to oppose this,” he said.
NO TO CHACHA. Retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio (2nd from left) says no to Charter Change after a forum commemorating the 38th anniversary of the People Power Revolution on Sunday (25 February 2024) at the MIC Cursillo House in Davao City. With Carpio (L to R ) are panel reactors Atty. Maruli Ali Garcia Sanchez, Mags Maglana and Rodel Abenoja. Photo by BETTY DE VERA
“We will go to the campuses to explain. Certainly, we will go to the campuses if the House does not back out,” Carpio told a “Public Forum on Charter Change in commemoration of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution” at the MIC Cursillo House on Sunday afternoon, the 38th year after People Power ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., father and namesake of the incumbent President.
Carpio said that even if the House of Representatives did not succeed in its attempt to change the 1987 Constitution through an alleged “People’s Initiative” that turned out to be politicians’ initiative, “we have to be on guard” as proponents of Charter Change (ChaCha) will find other ways.
ChaCha proponents “have a high mountain to climb. That’s why, they are changing their position now. But we have to be on guard,” he said.
He cited the three modes of changing the Constitution – by Constitutional Convention, by a vote of three-fourths of the members of Congress and by People’s Initiative. In the case of the latter, amendments must be “directly proposed by the people,” not by any member of Congress.
Carpio said that it is not constitutionally possible for proponents to proceed with an initiative because People’s Initiative can only introduce amendments but not revision.
He said the Constitution cannot be “revised” through a People’s Initiative, explaining that it is “revision” if the scope of the changes is “so broad that substantial changes are made in several provisions of the Constitution” as compared with “amendment,” which introduces a simple change that “does not affect the basic or fundamental principles of the Constitution like the checks-and-balances or the separation of powers.”
No enabling law
Carpio said another reason why the People’s Initiative will not succeed is that it has no enabling law.
He said Republic Act 6735 or the “Initiative and Referendum Act” was declared “inadequate” by the Supreme Court in the 1997 landmark case of Santiago vs. Commission on Elections.
Congress has yet to pass a new law, he said.
Carpio noted that ChaCha proponents in the House want to change the Constitution by pushing for the insertion of “voting jointly” in the provision that would allow Congress to amend or revise the Constitution. The Constitution is silent on how the voting shall be done, whether “voting jointly” or “voting separately.”
SAHOD ITAAS, CHACHA IATRAS. Tarpaulin on the wall delivers the message of the labor sector during the forum commemorating the 38th anniversary of People Power Revolution. Photo by MELOT BALISALISA
The House of Representatives, having the most number – 316 compared with the Senate’s 24 – has been pushing for a joint voting while the Senate maintains it should be “voting separately.”
The ChaCha proponents want to change the provision into “Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members, voting jointly, at the call of the Senate President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives…”
He said the proposed amendment is actually a “revision” and not a simple “amendment.”
Carpio explained that by “voting jointly,” the House of Representatives, even acting alone, could muster enough votes to effect constitutional reforms or even abolish the Senate by a vote of three-fourths, deviating from the current structure of Congress as a “bicameral body.”
“Under the present provision, any proposed change must be approved by three-fourth votes of all the members of the Senate and all the members of the House, and this means voting separately since the Constitution speaks of “Congress” which is a bicameral body,” he said.
The proposed change, which Carpio says is a “revision,” cannot be done through a People’s Initiative because the proposal would introduce a substantial change in the Constitution.
“Congress is made up of the Senate and House. The act of the Senate, acting alone, is not the act of Congress. The act of the House, acting alone, is not an act of Congress. Both must approve before you can call it an act of Congress,” he added.
PEOPLE POWER. A child asks her aunt to explain the People Power photographs on display at the MIC Cursillo House in Davao City on Sunday (25 February 2024), the 38th commemoration of the People Power Revolution. After the mass, a forum was held with Retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio talking about why the moves to amend the 1987 Constitution must be opposed. MindaNews photo by CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS
Political not economic
Carpio also believes that proponents of the alleged “People’s Initiative” seek to change the political structure – and not merely to change the economic provisions – to ultimately convert the system of government from presidential to parliamentary “to knock out Sara” in the 2028 Presidential race.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte in a rally here against ChaCha on January 28, warned President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that he would suffer the fate of his father who was ousted by People Power in February 1986, if he does not stop his wife Liza and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, whom he alleges to be behind the buying of signatures for a “People’s Initiative” to amend the Constitution.
“Kaibigan kita, pag pinilit mo ito, lalabas ka ng Malacañang kagaya nung panahon na pinalayas kayo” (You are my friend but if you push for this, you will leave Malacañang the same way your father did when he was ousted), Marcos said.
Duterte in 2021 was disappointed his daughter Sara opted to run for Vice President instead of President.
Carpio acknowledged that “sometimes the guy you are fighting with is the guy you are fighting against in another issue.”
“I am not for Duterte, I am anti-ChaCha, he is anti-ChaCha to protect his daughter. I am doing what I believe is the correct thing,” he said.
In November last year, Carpio asked the Supreme Court to rule on full disclosure of the use of public funds even if they fall under “confidential funds” because this is “the money of the public.” Among the respondents to the petition is Vice President Sara Duterte on her P125-million confidential funds. Carpio had earlier questioned the Duterte patriarch’s position on the West Philippine Sea.
Carpio reiterated there is no need to amend or revise the Constitution to attract foreign investments because the Philippines has “one of the most liberalized foreign investments law” not only in Southeast Asia but also in the entire Asia.
He said government should address the “real causes of problem” that prevent foreign investors from entering the country like high power cost, bureaucratic regulations, absence of rule of law, and poor infrastructure.
ANG TAMA IPAGLABAN. Retired Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio speaks at the forum commemorating the 38th anniversary of the People Power Revolution. Photo by MELOT BALISALISA
“The Constitution has nothing to do with foreign direct investments. It is the policies of the government, so why do they insist on changing the Constitution when it has nothing to do with poor economic performance,” he added.
He said the signature forms for People’s Initiative contained nothing about changing the “economic provisions.”
The Commission on Elections on January 29 announced in a press conference that “the Commission en banc, in a unanimous decision, decided to suspend any and all proceedings concerning the people’s initiative” and ordered its Comelec offices in the cities and municipalities to stop receiving signature sheets. (Antonio L. Colina IV with a report by Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)
