WHAT PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE PROPOSED CHA-CHA

By One Voice
(taken from http://www.onevoice.org.ph/index.php/?page_id=20)

The proposed Cha-Cha is being presented as empowerment of the people. Yet, if we examine three documents, namely the Draft Petition of the “people’s” Initiative (DP), House Resolution 1230 (HR), and the report of the Consultative Commission on Charter Change (CC), the proposed charter changes will do the opposite: give more political power to the few who already have too much of it.

1. It will take away our right to vote directly for the President/Head of State. Only members of Parliament will choose the Prime Minister.

“The Prime Minister shall be elected by a majority vote of all the Members of Parliament from among themselves.” (DP-Art. 7, Sec 1; HR-Art. 7-A, Sec. 3; CC-Art. 8, Sec. 2):

“The President shall be elected from among the Members of the Parliament by a majority vote of all its Members for a term of five years…” (HR-Art. 7, Sec. 2; CC-Art. 9, Sec. 2)

2. It will create a powerful Interim Parliament composed of incumbent politicians that would decide whether 2007 elections would be held or not.

• Interim Parliament will be composed of incumbent senators, congressmen, and Cabinet Secretaries: “There shall exist, upon the ratification of these amendments, an interim Parliament which shall continue until the Members of the regular Parliament shall have been elected and shall have qualified. It shall be composed of the incumbent Members of the Senate and House of Representatives and the incumbent Members of the Cabinet who are heads of executive departments.” (DP-Art. 18, Sec. 4(1); HR-Art 18, Sec. 1; CC-Art. 20, Sec. 8 & 9)
  
• Interim Parliament will be left alone to decide when the next elections are to be held including those for local positions: “The interim Parliament shall provide for the election of the members of the Parliament, which shall be synchronized and held simultaneously with the election of all local government officials.” (DP-Art. 18, Sec. 5(2))

3. It will create a super-President with additional Prime Minister powers. This is because the President will keep the powers specified by the 1987 Constitution, while enjoying the powers of Prime Minister – an arrangement vulnerable to abuse.

• Impeachment becomes more difficult, if not nearly impossible: “The incumbent President and Vice-President shall serve until the expiration of their term at noon on the thirtieth day of June 2010 and shall continue to exercise their powers under the 1987 Constitution unless impeached by a vote of two thirds of all the members of the interim parliament.” (DP-Art 18, Sec. 1(1))
  
• Interim Prime Minister will only perform functions delegated by the President. He or she will be chosen by the President: “The incumbent President, who is the Chief Executive, shall nominate, from among the members of the interim Parliament, an interim Prime Minister, who shall be elected by a majority vote of the members thereof. The interim Prime Minister shall oversee the various ministries and shall perform such powers and responsibilities as may be delegated to him by the incumbent President.” (DP-Art 18, Sec. 5(1); HR-Art. 18, Sec. 6; CC-Art. 20, Sec. 12 & 13)

4. Open the door for those in power to stay on indefinitely.

There is no prohibition in any of the proposals against incumbents, including the President, from running in any parliamentary elections to be held in 2010. Moreover, there is no limit in the number of terms: “Each Member of Parliament … shall be elected by the qualified voters of his district for a term of five years without limitation as to the number thereof….” (DP-Art. 6, Sec. 1(2); HR-Art. 6, Sec. 1(2); CC-Art. 7, Sec. 4(1))

5. Open the door to other amendments (DP-Art. 18, Sec. 4(4)), some of which may not even be known to the people today, such as amendments to weaken the Supreme Court as a check against martial law and, conversely, give more powers to the President to declare it. Once the Interim Parliament assumes plenary powers, it will be hard to stop.

• CC deletes the following from Article VII, Sec. 18 of the 1987 Constitution: “The Supreme Court may review, in an appropriate proceeding filed by any citizen, the sufficiency of the factual basis of the proclamation of martial law or the suspension of the privilege of the writ or the extension thereof, and must promulgate its decision thereon within thirty days from its filing.” (CC-Art. 9, Sec. 8)
  
• And restores to the President the power to declare martial law in “imminent danger…” of rebellion, which was used by President Marcos to declare martial law but which was removed in the 1987 Constitution. (CC-Art. 7-A, Sec. 12)

The truth is, there is nothing in the present Charter that hinders economic growth and social development. On the other hand, there are inherent dangers in making hasty changes in the Constitution under a flawed and legally questionable process.

Constitutional reforms, if necessary, are best done through a more transparent and representative Constitutional Convention after the 2007 elections, where any changes will not benefit those in power today.

We do not need the proposed Charter change. We need real change.

One Voice