Constitutional Reform after the May 2010 Philippine Elections

The Coalition for a Citizen’s Constitution (C4CC) finds new hope in the recently held national and local elections last May 10, 2010. With new political leaders voted into office, it would be possible to push for long term structural reforms in the government. The attitude of the next administration on the issue of constitutional reform is crucial. C4CC advocates for a federal form of government to give way to a more decentralized governance. This structural reform in the political governance of the country requires a change in the fundamental law of the land. It is clear that C4CC would face several challenges in engaging with the new administration. First, there is a need to find the appropriate time to push for charter change – when the people have attained some level of confidence that the newly elected leaders would not use it to advance their own personal political agenda. Second, there is a need to further educate the public about the importance of constitutional reform, and to build credible champions for federalism to advance the decentralization of powers in our country. And finally, there is a need to make sure that the pro-poor and social reform provisions of the current constitution are preserved and upheld.

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The Coalition for a Citizens’ Constitution (C4CC) was established in 2005 as a result of long discussions by development-oriented NGOs who believed that poor governance structure is one of the reasons why the Philippines remained a laggard in development among countries in Asia.  Shaped by its colonial past, the country’s political structure is founded on elitist democracy, highly centralized and characterized by patronage politics. It resulted to imbalance of power relations across social classes, between national and local governments, and across geographical regions. Powers were concentrated at the national government, while local governments remained dependent on the national leadership. Corruption became entrenched in the political system and in the cultural fabric of society.

C4CC advocates for structural reform in the political governance of the country through a proposal to change the fundamental law of the land. It is advocating for a federal form of government to give way to a more decentralized governance.

However, the move to change the constitution under the Arroyo Administration had been notoriously marked with public suspicion that the President is out to manipulate the process in order to extend her hold on power. So, instead of focusing on charter change for federalism, C4CC joined other sectors of society to stop any effort by the government to change the constitution. The stand of C4CC is to work for charter change only after the term of Gloria  Macapagal-Arroyo, and through a constitutional convention.

C4CC finds new hope in the forthcoming national and local elections on May 10, 2010.  With new political leaders voted into office, it would be possible to push for long term structural reforms in the government. The attitude of the next administration on the issue of constitutional reform is crucial. For this purpose, the article published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer in its March 27, 2010 issue is important for C4CC. The article tried to map out the position of the presidentiables on charter change.  

Changing the constitution does not seem to be an urgent concern for all the presidential candidates. It is thus highly possible that constitutional reform may be relegated to the back burner in favor of other pressing issues such as increasing unemployment, poverty and hunger, deteriorating basic education, the budget deficit and others.  However, most of the presidential candidates, except for JC De Los Reyes of Ang Kapatiran who expressed that there is no need for charter change, are open to support initiatives for charter change because they also see the need for it. The top two contenders for the presidency, namely Senators Noynoy Aquino and Manny Villar, expressed the need to verify if there is such clamor from the people.  Also, all of them wanted a constitutional convention as the proper mode to change the constitution, except for Joseph Estrada who opted for a constitutional commission.

The presidential candidates vary as to preferences over parliamentary or presidential form of government. The top two contenders for presidency (Aquino and  Villar) did not show strong interest on the issue.  Aquino said that there is no indication that it is urgent, while Villar said that the basic problem is not the form of government but lack of leadership at the national level. For C4CC, it is important to note that only Brother Eddie Villanueva made mention of federalism as possible form of government for the Philippines.

Based on the interviews with the presidential candidates, the concerns that need changes in the constitution include:
 
1) tightening the provisions against possible abuses especially by the President;
2) allowing foreigners to own residential, commercial and industrial land, except agricultural land and mineral resources and opening media to foreign control; (it is noted that presidential candidate and Senator Jamby Madrigal wants to preserve all the nationalist and protectionist provisions of the constitution);
3) changing the provision on the Armed Forces as “protector of the people”;
4) including a bill of duties and obligation;
5) removing the term limits of elected officials except for the President; and
6) removing restrictions on bringing foreign troops in the country.

It is clear that C4CC would face several challenges after the May 10, 2010 national and local elections. First, there is a need to find the appropriate time to push for charter change – when the people have attained some level of confidence that the newly elected leaders would not use it to advance their own personal political agenda.  Second, there is a need to further educate the public about the importance of constitutional reform, and to build credible champions for federalism to advance the decentralization of powers in our country.  And finally, there is a need to make sure that the pro-poor and social reform provisions of the current constitution are preserved and upheld.