The journey of a thousand miles …

The President’s Consultative Committee on Constitutional Change (ConCom) has done a yeoman’s job coming up with an official proposal as a starting point for public discussion. At last, Charter change has a face. For the past few days, this trial balloon has bewitched, bothered and bewildered.

On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte endorses the draft to Congress. Together with his announcement on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Act, he shall have delivered mightily on two of the center planks of his platform: (a) federalism and (b) peace in Mindanao.

By then, commentary on the provisions would have reached a crescendo. Yesterday, two former Chief Justices spoke out against the draft at the IBP National Headquarters. Before that, a cross spectrum assembly of academics rose to oppose. Even the “federalistz” like Sen. Migz are in hystericz, principally on the lack of financial viability of the proposed regions which would make it a non-starter.

… begins with a single step. The nays have clearly drowned out the ayes – from the bleachers. But that should not amount to a verdict on this draft. It still is quite a substantial document. Who knows? Given the swinging extremes to which the House and Senate are likely to go – on issues like federalism, dynasty, economic provisions, judicial appointments and the transitory provisions – this version may even be the safe bet. 

The harvest of criticisms is expected given that the ConCom hardly coopted anti-federalists and contra-change advocates. Given PRRD’s abbreviated time table, he clearly could not afford any prolonged debate. Public opinion, and its principal proxy, the Senate, would have to be the colander to drain out all the excess.

Emancipate-teen. As for me, I am perplexed by the draft’s uneven treatment of the federal regions in terms of their organic acts. The expectation, as in other countries under a federal system, is that federal regions would have their own regional constitutions – the mark of their adulthood. As in 18 different constitutions apart from the big daddy. It is empty autonomy for them to resort to the federal constitution every time. This is precisely why the BARMM and the Cordilleras have their organic acts. The BangsaMoro’s which is already appended to the draft and that for the Cordillera which their regional assembly is specifically empowered to enact. Arguably, Cordillera is the more independent for writing their own Act.

But what of the 16 other regions? There is no express recognition of their power to promulgate their own regional constitutions. Having their own organic acts in place would provide precise road maps for each region’s peculiar vision. The campaign for federalism received a great push from the provinces’ desires to preserve their individual cultural, linguistic, ethnodiversity. The idea is to have these guidelines preserved for eternity in their own charters. Yet, the ConCom is strangely silent on this matter.

Local justice. Another unfinished monument is that to regional judiciaries. The draft speaks of the creation of federal courts of appeals per region but there is hardly a mention of regional courts. Regional executives and regional legislatures, on the contrary, get extended treatment.

The configuration of lower courts at the regional level is critical given that there may be variances in the basic laws they interpret from one place to another. The definition of non-federal crimes has been downloaded to the regions. For a while there, I thought civil and family law matters would also be forfeited to the regions but the draft retained them for the federal government. 

It has been quite the rewarding intellectual exercise to review this historic draft. There is much that is good here. We know that the men and women who crafted it were animated by good intentions. So we forgive them conceding that potential extended term to their Boss which he rightly rejected.

Where is fair? The FIBA sanctions on our players were not mere slaps on the wrist. As penalties, they were proportionate and uniform. They are not the most severe ever handed down. The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is ready to move on and move forward.

But, for many, this pill is too bitter to swallow. There are two glaring, contentious particulars. First: Australia’s Daniel Kickert threw the first post-whistle elbow. Of all the respondents, he is the most guilty and his penalty should have reflected this. Yet his 5 game suspension only matches that of our own players. We even have our Calvin Abueva slapped with 6 games because of previous, recidivist type conduct. If only to highlight Kickert’s liability, his punishment should have been the heaviest. Six games, at least. 

And then, the coach. Chot Reyes escaped with the lightest penalty in terms of duration but arguably the heaviest in terms of stigma. I understand that one of the ethics of punishment is its deterrent effect on future action. But to qualify as such, the punishment must be seen to be just. Here, Coach Chot is being singled out as if he were the origin of all the mayhem that came from the Philippine bench. He is condemned for “instigating unsportsmanlike behavior.”

Not so. The unsportsmanlike conduct on the court disproportionately originated from the visitors side. Removing official decals from the playing court; racist remarks. Our unsportsmanlike conduct happened after the fact, outside the court. Furthermore, the coach’s fighting words were no less belligerent than the usual call to arms in huddles. In sporting events, context is key. Some coaches even galvanize the troops to “massacre” or “kill’ the enemy. What is FIBA doing suddenly taking these remarks literally? Does anyone honestly believe a coach would command his boys to commit homicide or murder?

Sure, the Coach takes a hit in the name of command responsibility. But the label of being unsportsmanlike has denied him a sporting chance, this man with a sterling record both in sport and in the business sector. This is a grave injustice.