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THE Marcos government is under massive attack from all directions for unbridled corruption. Its officials are accused of diverting massive public funds from critical infrastructure projects into their private pockets. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has disclosed that for the past three years, the first half of his term, 15 public works contractors were able to corner 18 percent, or P100 billion, of all flood control funds without delivering the required results.
This has resulted in disastrous flooding that has cost so many lives and incalculable property damage to the population. Not just the public works contracting sector is under indictment, but the entire government, nay, the entire society; even our Catholicism. Have we learned nothing at all from the Church’s tireless teaching on simple and honest Christian living?
The government is now investigating in order to punish the guilty, and restore public confidence among its officials. At the end of the day, we should be able to see that at least some have been punished, and that the government is ready to restart its relationship with the majority on a clean slate. President Marcos needs a clean bill of health, but who will give it to him? It is the same government that is investigating itself. The people’s trust and confidence have been so badly shaken that nothing short of a total government change is probably needed. This would have been the immediate consequence if the scandal had happened under a parliamentary government. Marcos as prime minister would have resigned, and a new prime minister would have taken over. A new government would have given the nation a fresh start.
But this is not the case. The presidential system, which is what we have, does not require it. Instead of owning up to his failure, the president simply passes the buck — he lays the blame on his subordinates while he washes his hands off the command responsibility that is clearly and irrevocably his. For his part, the new secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) asks everyone to turn in their courtesy resignations without requiring them to clear themselves of their respective accountabilities first. This is not nearly good enough. The flood control funds scandal has shown a real failure of government, and the president, as head of government, should have assumed full responsibility for it.
Because this has not happened, we cannot see any closure on this scandal taking place soon. Our people have a right to see actual crimes being punished; they also want to see concrete reforms in the conduct of government taking place. There is an unmistakable call for it, but the president has failed to respond to it, so the Filipino people and the Congress must provide the appropriate response. We hope it is not too late. The Constitution must provide the means. It will have to be revised or amended to energize the government, and the people and Congress are the only ones that can undertake the process; the president has no legal role to play in revising or amending it.
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Indeed, the president will probably want to maneuver from behind the scenes to influence the proposed change. But he cannot involve himself openly in bringing it about. Congress and the Filipino electorate cannot and must not allow it. If the principles of the Constitution are, to quote the words of the late Ninoy Aquino, “worth dying for,” this is the time to show it. We must fight for them the way we fight for our most precious liberties.
Article XVII provides that any amendment to, or revision of, the Constitution may be proposed by Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members, or a constitutional convention. An earlier House proposal to amend the Constitution by means of this three-fourths vote was quickly discredited when its authors proposed that the two houses of Congress vote jointly as one house, instead of as two houses. The obvious intention was to reduce the Senate of 24 members to an insignificant portion of the 316-strong House, virtually abolishing it. I can hardly imagine the House renewing its earlier proposal for a constituent assembly under the same terms.
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A constitutional convention (con-con) seems to have the best chance of proposing Charter change. Congress can convene this by a vote of two-thirds of all its members, or by a simple majority vote, and submit to the electorate the question of calling such a convention. The people should then elect their delegates to such a convention.
Another way of amending the Constitution would be through the people’s direct initiative, upon a petition of at least 12 per centum of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least 3 per centum of the registered voters therein. No amendment under this section shall be authorized before 1991/1992, nor oftener than once every five years thereafter. Because of the nature of constitutional proceedings, amendments by initiative can only cover simple propositions, never complex ones that would entail extensive discussions.
The present crisis, spawned by our biggest flood control corruption scandal, has given us, the Filipino people, an opportunity to respond with the best we have within us. Having seen almost the entire Congress pervert all moral values, we must resolve to behave as genuine patriots with a zero tolerance for corruption, seeking only to see our nation reborn into the highest realms of morality and the common good. If we give it our best try, we might even surprise ourselves.
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