April 2, 2006

Countdown To World’s Quickest Constitution

By P.B. Masdal |

Posted In : Philippine Politics

Ten…Nine…Eight…Seven….Six…

If Speaker Joe de Venecia would have his way, we’ll have a new constitution in no time at all, as hurriedly as July of this year as he had specifically stated. That’s what I mean by an instant constitution if there’d be one, just put two cups of water into the cauldron and after two minutes, fling the stiff ramen into the swirling water and voila!….

Excuse me if I have always been referring to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not a countless of times already, but let’s admit it, this kind of circumstance can only be one for the books, a truly unimaginable occurrence, a modern-day phenomenon, a miracle, a political marvel, and to repeat once again the oft repeated aphorism, it can only happen in the Philippines. I had even wondered if Joe de V was simply horsing around or was just playing April Fools’ Day a week earlier but there’s no mistaking, he wasn’t being a clown at all. And mind you, the fast tracking scheme for a new constitution could even work except for one issue, which I would discuss later on.

If enough signatures would be culled by the end of March, the COMELEC could then go on so quickly upon a ministerial work of verifying the authenticity of the signatures and with Malacañang’s blessing, that perfunctory routine may be over by the end of April. And sixty days after that(as the constitution prescribes for petitions to amend or revise the constitution), probably in July, a plebiscite can be held, pulling together the people’s pulse concerning charter change.If the affirmative wins, we’d be having a Prime Minister as head of state by the end of July, if the counting of votes would be over by then. See, no matter how fantastic an idea an instant constitution is, it could actually happen.

Now, there’s the issue of the necessity of an enabling law that the constitution requires before a charter change by people’s initiative could be undertaken. Section 1 of Article 17 of the Constitution asserts that Congress shall provide for the implementation of people’s initiative, that is, by enacting an enabling law. Actually, Congress had already came up with one in Republic Act 6735 but when its validity was questioned, the Supreme Court had struck it down as “insufficient and incomplete” and could not be accepted as an implementing guideline in the conduct of any people’s initiative. This issue should be the main stumbling block for those who are right now carrying out the signature campaign for the amendment or revision of the present Constitution. And if Joe de V is dead serious about instigating that soon-to-be world famous instant constitution, he’d better work double time in order to summon the majority in Congress to quickly enact a comprehensive enabling law for people’s initiative. With Malacañang’s blessing, such would pass from bill to signed law in no time at all.

Another thing, according to atty-at-law, a change to the parliamentary system of government would entail the revision of the present Constitution and people’s initiative is only applicable for amendatory propositions. This may just be another issue that would deny Joe de V the world’s fastest charter ever.

But wait a minute, if Joe de V’s plan to put the Philippines in the world map for having the world’s fastest constitution could go on unhindered, wouldn’t President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo think that she is being pushed down the cliff way too soon? Wouldn’t she want to stay a lot longer than July?

Or perhaps she knows by now that a resurrected impeachment complaint against her this August would probably go successfully through the mill and would most probably find herself, the mightiest official of the land, being summoned like a common criminal to stand accused before the Senate. That might be too unpalatable for her that she’d prefer a more pleasant exit. And who knows, she might just be the first ever Prime Minister of this land when July comes. That, if Joe de V and former President Fidel V. Ramos would not compete for the prime position in the possible parliament.

….Five…Four…Three…Two…Voila

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