Sereno reaffirms judiciary’s duty to uphold Charter

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has reaffirmed its commitment to defend the 1987 Constitution amid moves by allies of President Duterte to have it amended.

In a statement on the 30th anniversary of the ratification of the Constitution yesterday, Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno said the judiciary would religiously perform its duties mandated in the Charter.

Some of the framers of the 1987 Charter have also expressed their opposition to moves to have the Constitution amended.

“We in the Supreme Court and the judiciary today re-commit ourselves to the task of allowing our people to realize their hopes and aspirations of a society that is more just, humane and equal by ensuring that the courts are firm, fair and free,” she said.

The SC chief emphasized the historical value of the Constitution as “backbone for the new democracy ushered in by the force of the People Power Revolution of 1986 that ended the Marcos dictatorship.”

Sereno recalled that the 1987 Constitution came at the end of the revolutionary government put up by the late former president Corazon Aquino after Marcos was toppled from power.

She pointed out that the Charter, ratified by 16,622,111 affirmative votes, provided “a rich and fertile ground for the rule of law to be nourished, to grow and to bear fruit.”

“This it did with a renewed focus on human rights and civil liberties, an emphasis on sovereignty and institutional protection for the independence of the judiciary,” she stressed.

Sereno also cited how the Constitution has allowed dissent while protecting national security, human rights and human dignity at the same time. Furthermore, the Constitution has helped establish a stable government and vibrant democracy, with consistent rule of law.

The SC statement, signed only by Sereno, was released just as allies of Duterte in the House of Representatives were pushing for Charter change to pave the way for a shift to federalism as promised by the President during the campaign.

The House committee on constitutional amendments has passed a resolution calling for Congress to convene into a constituent assembly. It has also formed a technical working group to consolidate related resolutions in the chamber.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said they target the last three years of the Duterte administration as transition period toward federalism.

Lack of wisdom

Some of the framers of the 1987 Constitution have opposed moves of the Duterte administration to amend the Charter and shift to a federal form of government.

A joint statement from some of the framers of the Constitution cited the lack of wisdom in having the Charter overhauled.

Among those who signed the statement were former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr., former elections chief Christian Monsod, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairman Chito Gascon and Edmundo Garcia and Florangel Rosario Braid.

“There are proposals to overhaul our Constitution on the ground that it created an ‘Imperial Manila’ that stands in the way of the development of other areas, to the detriment of the poor,” their statement read.

“We beg to disagree. We submit that we have failed in human development not because of the Constitution, but because we have not fully implemented it, especially its provisions on social justice and local autonomy,” they added.

The five, along with former senator Rene Saguisag and other human rights advocates, attended the commemoration of Constitution Day yesterday at the CHR central office in Quezon City.

Also signing the joint statement were Felicitas Aquino-Arroyo, Adolf Azcuna, Bishop Teodoro Bacani, Ricardo Romulo, Jaime Tadeo and Bernardo Villegas.

In their statement, the framers maintained that the Constitution should not be seen as a problem but rather as part of the solution.

“It provides a framework for addressing the current challenges we confront as a people,” they added.

According to Garcia, a Charter change would open all the provisions of the Constitution to amendments, including those providing limitations to the declaration of martial law.

“What we are saying is, hold on, there are so many substantive problems. Why focus our attention now on the form rather than focus on the substance (such as addressing) poverty, inequality, impunity, exclusions of many sectors of our society,” he said.

On the proposal to shift to federalism, the framers called on the Duterte administration to heed the recommendations of experts to try reform first before overhauling the system.

“The corrective legislation to the local government code and other laws can be done quickly, without the complexity of a shift to federalism and will yield immediate benefits to the people,” they said.

“And it does not foreclose a shift to federalism, if still necessary. A ‘messed up’ shift to federal constitution is virtually irreversible,” they added, noting that such a move would consume the energy and resources of the government to the detriment of other programs needing greater attention. – With Janvic Mateo