‘71 Con-Con Delegate Says GMA’s Cha-Cha Same as FM’s

A delegate of the 1971 Constitutional Convention said that the Charter change being pursued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is similar to that pushed 35 years ago by then President Ferdinand Marcos. Both Charter change drives, he said, are preludes to what is termed as “constitutional authoritarianism.”

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

A delegate of the 1971 Constitutional Convention said that the Charter change being pursued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is similar to that pushed 35 years ago by then President Ferdinand Marcos. Both Charter change drives, he said, are preludes to what is termed as “constitutional authoritarianism.”

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. represented his native Cagayan de Oro City in the 1971 Constitutional Convention (ConCon). He was known for opposing many of the provisions put forward by the Marcos government. His dissenting opinions would eventually land him in jail – his first of four stints in detention – shortly after the declaration of martial law on Sept. 21, 1972.

“I knew that Mr. Marcos was trying to lay the basis for the declaration of martial rule, for his assumption of authoritarian powers,” Pimentel told Bulatlat in an interview. “Therefore I opposed any move of his people in the convention that would have started that trend.”

Pimentel, who was also a human rights lawyer for much of the martial law period (1972-1986), was interviewed by Bulatlat June 7, during the launch of his book Martial Law in the Philippines: My Story at the Manila Hotel. He remarked that it was the same place where the sessions of the 1971 Constitution were held.

The senator described the martial law regime as a period when power was concentrated on one man – the president.

“You could not question the powers of Marcos, and he decided in what manner the Constitution would be amended instead of following what the Constitution said,” Pimentel pointed out.

The 1973 Constitution provided for a parliamentary form of government in which there was a president who served as head of state and chief executive of the republic, with a prime minister acting as head of government. Both the president and the prime minister were to be elected from among the members of a unicameral National Assembly. The prime minister had the power to appoint all ministers and deputy ministers of the cabinet, majority of whom should come from the National Assembly.

Under the said Charter, the president may dissolve the National Assembly upon written advice from the prime minister. There was, however, no provision that prevented the president from dissolving the National Assembly even without advice from the prime minister.

The National Assembly had the power to prescribe qualifications of judges of lower courts other than being natural-born Filipino citizens and members of the Philippine Bar. No one could be appointed to the Supreme Court unless he or she had served as a judge in a lower court for at least 10 years.

Marcos exercised legislative powers through the issuance of several presidential decrees, even as there was no provision in the original 1973 Constitution on this. The 1976 amendments to the 1973 Constitution explicitly granted Marcos the authority to exercise legislative powers until the lifting of martial law.

There was no recourse in the 1973 Constitution against the excesses of power, Pimentel said.

The 1987 Constitution, which was framed mostly by veterans of the anti-dictatorship struggle, is frequently described by political commentators as a reaction to authoritarian rule.

Pimentel shares this view. “To a very great extent, the 1987 Constitution was really influenced by the happenings during martial law,” he pointed out.

He considers the existence of an elaborate Bill of Rights in the 1987 Constitution as a manifestation of its “libertarian” character.

The 1987 Constitution contains strong provisions guaranteeing protection for civil liberties and other human rights. It expressly prohibits imprisonment on the sole basis of political belief.

Likewise it bans the use of torture, force, violence, threat or any other means “which violate the free will,” as well as secret detention places, incommunicado detention, solitary confinement, and other similar form of imprisonment.

“It’s a good thing that we have this set of liberties, freedoms defined in the Constitution,” Pimentel said. “Because without that, then government will have no compunction about harassing people, doing what it wants to do without limitation. The Bill of Rights is there to set a limit to what the government can do relative to the people.”

Asked why he thought the Arroyo government appeared to be bent on changing the 1987 Constitution, Pimentel said it wants to be authoritarian.

“I think they want to do away with the principle of checks and balances, and this is what is bad about it,” the senator said.

Among the recommendations of the Consultative Commission, whose members were appointed by Arroyo, is a shift in the form of government from presidential to parliamentary.

The bicameral Congress is to be replaced by a unicameral Parliament. Executive power is to be vested in a prime minister elected by a majority of the members of Parliament from among themselves. There would be a president who would serve as head of state, also to be elected by a majority of the members of Parliament from among themselves.

Malacańang and the Senate have clashed on several issues since mid-2005, when a number of its members called on her to step down from office following the revival of allegations that she cheated her way to victory in the 2004 elections.

Pimentel admits that he is not too keen at present on supporting a shift to parliamentary government, which he used to advocate. “With Gloria, I’m not too sure that we will support it,” he said.

“She is using these amendments as a way of covering up for her misdeeds,” Pimentel added. Bulatlat

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