Constitution 101

Last Wednes-day, in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, my political science class taught by Melissa Lao held a forum in the Social Development Complex AVR located on the Ateneo campus. As a final class project, we wanted this thing to turn out well because, honestly, our grades depended on it. However, by the end of the forum, we realized that there was more to holding this forum than just getting a good grade.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution. It’s not really something a lot of people talk about (unless, of course, these people are law students or are just earnestly concerned with matters of public interest). But it’s important nonetheless; everybody should be concerned with the things that go on in the land. It is our country, after all. The 1987 Constitution affects every single Filipino because it serves as the fundamental law of the land. Among the guidelines set forth by the Constitution are the matters of form and duties of the government; the distribution of powers of the branches of the government; and the basic rights of the citizens of the state.

Going into the forum, many of us only had a novice’s take on the Constitution and its contents. The different articles and all the sections in the Constitution were familiar to us, but only from a textbook perspective. I think this is why people generally get turned off when it comes to reading and knowing about the Constitution. When reading the Constitution, one remembers how much of a legal document it is. It doesn’t have the flavor and panache of a future-fiction novel, nor does it engage the reader in character development and convoluted plot twists. People (myself included) become intimidated by the "legality" and the formality of it all. However, when put into the functional context of our lives as Filipinos, it can be just as exciting as any other document. 

We were lucky enough to have two speakers who were active in politics during the time the 1987 Constitution was drafted. We invited Jose Luis Martin Gascon, a member of the 1987 Constitutional Commission, and Soc Banzuela of Citizens for Con-Con (C4CC) to speak. Both men were able to eloquently address any questions the audience had about the Constitution and about the times in which it was drafted. In many ways, the discussion with Gascon and Banzuela removed all our preconceived notions about the Constitution being a highfalutin legal document interpretable only by people in the law profession. The talk show and open forum segments of last Wednesday’s seminar on the 1987 Constitution were important in bringing discussion of such a difficult topic down to a level where students could identify and actually understand what this Constitution business was all about.

What I found really useful was our discussion on how the 1987 Constitution figures in our lives today. To plug in some trivia, the 1987 Constitution is the longest-lasting charter that our country has had to date. There are debates that this fact arouses, such as matters of Charter change and whether this Constitution really is the best for the present times. Some sectors have begun to lobby for change in certain provisions and even a scrapping of the entire Charter. A better knowledge of how the Constitution actually works helps us make more educated responses regarding topics such as these.

There is a phrase that our teacher Mrs. Lao reminds us of when dealing with matters of national significance: "The personal is also political." I agree with this totally because, without the people, there can be no politics. We are that personal aspect that creates the political sphere. We are the "someone" that allows government to even exist. And it is we, that same "someone," who dictate the national agendas taking place.

The forum that our class held was a perfect example of how the personal is also the political. Knowing more about the Constitution allows us to make more knowledgeable decisions regarding constitutional matters. In this way, we, as individual beings, can take part in the larger political sphere where we can offer our suggestions to make a difference. It is a cycle that starts within us, later moving towards affecting a greater number of people, and returning back to us, affecting us as well. This is the nature of the Constitution. It affects everyone, yet it is our responsibility to know how it affects us personally. Being aware of this brings us a step closer to taking meaningful action in the political realm.

The key element in making the personal political is action. But it shouldn’t be action for action’s sake. These actions have to be calculated and well-thought-out for things to positively work for the self, and for everyone else. As an example, having forums about tricky topics like the 1987 Constitution helps flesh out certain difficulties, resulting in more intelligent moves for positive action.

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E-mail me at enricomiguelsubido@ yahoo.com.