Fast-changing times call for constitutional changes - JAYWALKER by Art A. Borjal

The conventional argument cited in law books against early or frequent amendments of the Constitution is that the fundamental law should be allowed to mature through years, decades, perhaps even centuries. Just like vintage wine, the Constitution becomes finer as it stays fermented, for long periods of time, in sealed barrels inside dark dungeons. That is why, as stated by opponents of constitutional amendments, no one should touch a Constitution drafted less than two decades ago.

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There are flaws, though, in this conventional argument. For instance, when the warts and infirmities of an existing Constitution surface and are clearly visible to the naked eye, mustn’t steps be immediately taken to excise those warts and remove those infirmities? Why must decades or scores of years be allowed to pass before corrective measures are taken? Apparently, this is the argument cited by Senator Franklin Drilon when he called for an immediate amendment of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

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Frank Drilon is right. The present Constitution was written in unusual times. It was drafted just after the collapse of a dictatorial regime, and many of the Constitution’s provisions thus were merely a reaction to the authoritarianism of the past. Today’s problems, which cry for immediate solutions from the Constitution, have nothing to do at all with dictatorship or authoritarianism.

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As pointed out by Drilon, the holding of a constitutional convention will not be too costly. The election of delegates, for example, can be held simultaneously with the barangay elections. And the constitutional convention itself can be conducted in the most austere manner possible, without the usual pomp and extravagance associated with previous ConCons.

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There are amendments to the Constitution that appear most urgent. One is the matter of election reforms. For instance, if bicameralism should remain in the Constitution, then there is need to elect senators by regions. The present system where the voting for senators is nationwide will enable only the rich and moneyed candidates to become members of the Philippine Senate. Seldom, if ever, will a member of the lower social class be able to win in a senatorial race if the voting remains nationwide. A Senate of multimillionaires that is how the Senate will remain if senators are not elected by regions.

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The party-list system, too, needs a drastic revision. As it is now, the system is a farce and it is being utilized by the powerful, not the marginalized sectors, to grab political power. Unless the party-list system is thoroughly reevaluated and revised, it would be better to scrap it than continue spending tens of millions of pesos of taxpayers’ money to subsidize a handful of party-list reps who do not really represent the disadvantaged sectors of society.

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There are many other provisions in the 1987 Constitution that can be the object of careful and wise scrutiny by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. Doing away with these provisions, or revising them to correct their deficiencies, could very well be the key to make this nation move forward at a faster pace, especially during these times when almost the entire world has become borderless.

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There was a time, many years ago, when well-to-do Filipino families would hie off to Hong Kong on weekends, just to eat and enjoy those Chinese meals served in choice restaurants. Now, this is no longer a fad, because several enterprising Filipino entrepreneurs have put up restaurants here with authentic Chinese menu, cooked by real, honest-to-goodness chefs from Hong Kong or provinces of China.

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Last Wednesday noon, I had lunch in one such eatery, the Macau Pigeon House at Rockwell Power Plant Mall in Makati City with high society personalities deeply involved in socio-civic undertakings Lovely Rosie Romulo, Mercy Tuason, Begonia Ortigas and Mons Romulo Tantoco. The food was very tasty and truly delicious, cooked the real Chinese way by three cooks imported from China. The pigeons, the stringbeans, the talong cooked and sauted in a unique way, the tofu and bits of vegetables and everything in the menu can make one wish to go back again and again to Macau Pigeon House, which is located at the Mall’s 4th floor, just adjacent to the American style cinemas where the sound system, aircon, and sofas are really superb.

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If there are seats and tables at the aisle in front of Macau Pigeon House, it is due to the deluge of people who eat there – the young and the old, the middle class and high society, social and political, VIPs and strangers. The restaurants’ owners, Sander and Mons Tantoco, in partnership with jeweller Anita Chan, have seen to it that every customer leaves the place satisfied, not only because of the finest Chinese food in town but also because of the reasonable price tags in the menu.

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PULSEBEAT: Taiwan allots US$8.5 billion yearly in military expenditures to protect its 22 million people. Mainland China, with its two billion people, spends US$12.5 billion annually for its armed forces. The Philippines? You will cry when you see the financial allocation for the military . . . According to Dr. Conrad G. Javier of Cleveland, Ohio, a Fil-Am medical doctor who is a dyed- in-the-wool Republican, President George Bush will ask the Philippine government to extend accommodations for US war planes and battleships to refuel in various Philippine ports. Expect long and heated debates on this US request . . . Dr. Javier thinks that the hostage-taking of American citizens was a grave miscalculation by the Abu Sayyaf. The terrorist group failed to read the mind of President Bush, whose goal now is to "pulverize" the Abu Sayyaf, said Conrad . . . Manuel "Maning" Camara, one of the most active civic leaders in Tondo, Manila, sent an invitation to attend the inauguration and blessing of the Isla de Balut Exceptional Children Foundation (IBEC) at Beltran Sunog Apog River Service Road in Balut on June 16, starting at 4 p.m. This foundation was organized by concerned citizens of Balut to provide special education to gifted, exceptional children with behavioral problems and physical disabilities. Camara is the president of IBEC.

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