‘People must be the authors of the new Constitution’

The new constitution should be made by the people, for the people if it is to be of the people.

Charter Change Advocacy (CCA) Commissioner Raul Lambino said yesterday that the Filipino people must be the authors of the new constitution because they are the ones who should be responsible in charting their own fate and destiny.

Lambino told a big assembly of non-government organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations (POs), the urban poor and Muslim groups that the active participation of the electorate in the debates and discussions on Charter change is the most important factor of the democratic process.

"People should not be scared of Charter Change. They should be involved because they are now being asked to take part in a most historic event — not only for the present but also for the future generations," Lambino said.

He also said the huge expense of P35 billion in taxpayers’ money spent annually to sustain the bicameral operations of Congress could have been set aside to finance infrastructure projects, health care services and the construction of much-needed public school buildings and classrooms.

"Do you see the wastage? If we were unicameral, our laws would be passed more quickly. Congress last year passed only four laws," he added.

He blamed the systematically inept performance of the bicameral Congress, he added, on the perennial gridlock between the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Lambino, chairman of the CCA committee on form of government, lamented that the below par performance of the current presidential system and bicameral Congress dictates the glaring need to make the shift to a unicameral system.

In explaining the need to change the form of government from the bicameral presidential to unicameral parliamentary, ADComm chairman Lito Lorenzana and fellow commissioner Rommela Bengzon said economic progress can only be attained if the unhampered legislation of much-needed reform measures takes place so such measures will become law.

Bengzon, also member of both the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association, said the economic liberalization of land, public utilties, the media and the educational sectors will not be left open to abuse because the terms and conditions will be set by the new unicameral parliament.

Bengzon said that "what we have suggested and are now advocating is that no specific provision" — like limiting foreign participation to a 40-60 or 30-70 percent ownership" on foreign capitalization — be imposed to attract investments to come in.

She said such liberalization will give the new parliament flexibility in regulating the allowable foreign capitalization without having to undergo the difficult process of amending the Constitution again and again.

In the ensuing Charter change debates and discussions, Lambino, a UE law professor, praised the Arroyo administration for allowing the people to get maximum exposure on the provocative issue of amending the 1987 Constitution — even if the political opposition is exploiting the perceived negativism of the issue. — Cecille Suerte Felipe