Pinoys know little about Charter

Recent surveys show that not only are the people against Charter change, they are also rather unfamiliar with the 1987 Constitution.

Also known as the Freedom Constitution, the 1987 Charter was crafted by 48 people handpicked by the Aquino administration after the overthrow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986.

The late director Lino Brocka was one of those who wrote the Constitution, although, ever the activist, he walked out before the fundamental law of the land could be framed.

Two of the commissioners — peasant leader Jaime Tadeo and Jose Suarez — actually voted "No" to the finished product during the Feb. 2, 1987 referendum.

The current basic law is the longest ever framed, running to 60 pages in book form.

Indeed this could be part of the reason why few Filipinos have taken the time to read it, much more imbibe the intents and implications of its provisions.

Random man-on-the street interviews reveal that most Filipinos do not have even a rudimentary knowledge of the 1987 Charter. When they are asked the question, their faces have an expression of bemusement, apathy or plain puzzlement.

The Charter was cobbled together to replace the 1973 Constitution of the martial law era during the Marcos regime.

The president of the post-EDSA I Constitutional Convention (Con-con) was former Supreme Court justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma. Vice president was former senator Ambrosio Padilla while floor leader was lawyer-journalist Napoleon Rama.

Other prominent members of the Con-con are now Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., former SC justice Roberto Concepcion, now Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople, the late senators Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo and Lorenzo Sumulong, former Ateneo law school dean Joaquin Bernas, former Speaker Jose B. Laurel Jr., former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Christian Monsod, Dr. Florangel Braid of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication, Dr. Bernardo Villegas (now vice president of the University of Asia and the Pacific), and lawyer-journalist Vicente Foz.

The 1987 Constitution has 18 articles, and starts with the preamble:

"We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution."

Article I is on the National Territory.

Article II, or the Declaration of Principles and State Policies, has 28 sections. The first six fall under Principles, and 22 under State Policies.

The Bill of Rights, with 22 sections, comprises Article III.

Article IV is on Citizenship while Article V is on Suffrage.

Article VI (on the Legislative Department) is the Charter’s longest with 32 sections. Article VII (on the Executive Department) has 23 sections while Article VIII (on the Judicial Department) has 16 sections.

The Constitutional Commissions (Comelec, Civil Service Commission, and Commission on Audit) comprise Article IX.

Local Government is covered in Article X while Accountability of Public Officers is the focus of Article XI.

Article XII, with all its 22 sections, zeroes in on the National Economy and Patrimony.

Human Justice and Human Rights are tackled in Article XIII. Covered by this Article are Labor, Agrarian and Natural Resources Reform, Urban Land Reform and Housing, Health, Women, Role and Rights of People’s Organizations, and Human Rights.

Covered by Article XIV are Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture, and Sports. Language (Filipino) is also incorporated in this Article.

Family is the subject of Article XV.

Article XVI is on General provisions, Article XVII on Amendments or Revisions, and Article XVIII on Transitory Provisions.

In Article XVII, any amendment to, or revision of, the 1987 Constitution may be proposed by Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members, or by a constitutional convention.

Amendments to the Constitution may also be directly proposed through a people’s initiative upon a petition of at least 12 percent of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three percent of the registered voters therein.

No amendment under this section shall be authorized within five years following the ratification of the Constitution (1987) nor exceed a frequency of once every five years thereafter.