2 ex-SC justices open to Cha-cha

MANILA, Philippines — Two former justices of the Supreme Court (SC) who were part of the 1986 Constitutional Commission (Concom) said yesterday they are open to Congress seeking amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

Retired justices Vicente Mendoza and Adolf Azcuna were receptive to suggestions that the bicameral Congress – the Senate and House of Representatives – introduce changes to the Charter, provided this is submitted to the people for “plebiscite and ratification.”

“Is it necessary to amend the Constitution? Yes, because its Amendment Clause does not state whether in acting as constituent assembly or in calling a constitutional convention, the two houses of Congress must sit jointly or separately,” Mendoza stated.

Mendoza, a highly respected constitutional law expert, told the House committee on constitutional amendments led by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez that provisions are “very sparse” and that they do not specify more details in the methods provided.

“It is the means through which the people can make peaceful changes in their fundamental law. It is a safety valve to prevent violent expressions of popular will or revolution. Hence, it must be clear to enable the people to make changes in the Constitution,” he explained.

Mendoza, nonetheless, attributed lingering questions on how to go about Charter change –

Con-ass or Con-con – to an “oversight” their Constitutional Commission colleagues committed. “As has been said, Charter change should be possible, but not easy.”

“Through oversight, however, the (1986 Constitutional) Commission failed to make the corresponding changes in the Amendment Clause (Article 17) and the provision on the Judicial and Bar Council,” Mendoza, an appointee of the late president Fidel Ramos to the SC, recalled.

Azcuna, who served as a member of the Cabinet of the late president Corazon Aquino, agreed with Mendoza’s view and insisted that in both modes, each chamber should reach a three-fourths vote, then vote separately before sending it to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for a plebiscite.

“You have to try and make an attempt for the case to go to the SC,” Azcuna said, informing lawmakers that the high tribunal can take cognizance of the case once the constitutional amendment reaches the Comelec, which would warrant a justiciable issue.

“I propose that you just make one single amendment and adopt a majority vote, and then submit it to a plebiscite, and let the SC interpret it. It makes it changeable, flexible. But this has to be submitted to the people in a plebiscite,” he said.

People’s participation is paramount, according to the two legal luminaries, if only to avoid abuse on the part of the country’s politicians like senators and congressmen and take advantage by extending their terms beyond the restricted period.