Federalism 103: need for ‘Cha-cha’

Federalism is the long-term goal of President Duterte. I have taken it up twice. On June 5 (Federalism 101), I explained the basics of the federal system, with the intention of stimulating public debate. The following Sunday, June 12 (Federalism 102), the five most debated aspects of this system were listed. Today, let me discuss how the system can be instituted.

Cha-cha methods. Undoubtedly, Charter change or “Cha-cha” would be needed to imbed the system here. The 1987 Constitution provides three ways of dancing the political Cha-cha:

1) people’s initiative (PI), 2) constituent assembly (Con-ass), and 3) constitutional convention (Con-con). In all these, the proposed revisions should be ratified by the electorate in a plebiscite.

I believe PI cannot be used because, as held by the Supreme Court in Lambino vs Comelec (Oct. 25. 2006), only minor amendments can be the subject of this mode, not complicated matters, like federalism which alters the government’s nature and structure.

On the other hand, under the Con-ass method, “Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members” may directly propose the Charter changes. The big issue here is whether the two chambers of the legislature would vote “jointly” or “separately.”

Given our bicameral Congress, I think that the vote should be “separate.” If ordinary legislation is separately voted upon, why should the remaking of the most fundamental law be treated any less stringently?

Con-con favored. Fortunately, the President, according to media reports, favors a Con-con. Thus, the joint-or-separate dilemma would no longer be a problem. More important, the Con-con, unlike Congress, would be able to devote full time to exhaustively discuss the many aspects of federalism and the other proposed constitutional changes (like the parliamentary system).

Under the Con-con mode, Congress will convene the constitutional convention “by a vote of two-thirds of all its Members,” or, submit to the electorate the question of calling such a convention, “by a majority vote of all its Members.”

Due to his huge popular mandate, Mr. Duterte may find little difficulty in obtaining the two-thirds vote needed for a Con-con, even if the Senate and the House of Representatives were to vote separately, as I believe they should. Two-thirds (or 16) of the 24 senators can call a Con-con while three-fourths (or 18) are needed to approve the proposed changes in a Con-ass.

Tight timeline. Incoming Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has taken the first step to get congressional approval by filing on June 30 a bill calling for a Con-con. But it is only on July 25, when Congress opens its session, that the bill can be taken up. It will have to undergo the usual three readings in both the Senate and the House. Public hearings and consultations will probably be heard by the relevant committees of both chambers. Here, lobby groups, the trimedia, social media, academics, and plain kibitzers would want to be heard, pro and contra.

Thereafter, the bill will undergo plenary debates. Many questions will arise, like: Should all Con-con members be elected (or may some of them be ex-officio)? How many should they be? How should they be elected: by region, by province, by city or by congressional district? Should there be party-list delegates? Should incumbent officials and their close kin be allowed to run as Con-con delegates? Should the Con-con election be completely nonpartisan? If so, how?

These and similar questions will surely come up and will take time to resolve, given that the lawmakers will want to protect their political turf and to assure the election of their favorites.

After the bill is passed into law, the Commission on Elections will have to prepare for the election of the convention delegates. Will it be manual or automated? In either case, the Comelec would need at least six months to prepare.

To save on costs (the government allocated P6.260 billion for the elections last May 9), as well as to minimize election fatigue for the Comelec, the public school teachers (who constitute the Board of Election Inspectors), the election watchdogs, and the voters themselves, the Con-con election could coincide with the barangay elections in October (which may have to be postponed to next year), or with the congressional elections in May 2019.

In any event, given the preparations needed, the earliest the Con-con delegates can convene would be in 2018. Historically, the constitutional conventions usually take at least a year to finish discussions and deliberations.

Thereafter, the final draft of the new Constitution needs to be ratified in a plebiscite. The present Charter mandates that the plebiscite “shall be held not earlier than sixty days nor later than ninety days after [their] approval.” The ultimate question is: Will the new Constitution take effect during or after Mr. Duterte’s term?

Indeed, revising the Constitution via a Con-con is quite complicated and will definitely take time. While this tedious process is taking place, Congress should rush the enactment of laws to institute the important reforms (other than federalism) that the President and his Cabinet are raring to implement, like tax restructuring, emergency powers to solve Metro Manila’s dizzying traffic, comprehensive peace agreements with our Muslim brethren and the National Democratic Front, a wider agrarian reform program, and amendment of the Local Autonomy Code to devolve more powers to the local government units.

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