Babe's Eye View article

In his campaign for the presidency, Noynoy Aquino’s message of “change” resonated among many Filipinos who have grown tired and weary of the old ways, with faulty systems that have spawned corruption in almost every aspect of life in this country. Now that he is president, Noynoy has shown this early that change can start from the top even in such simple things as obeying traffic rules which many people, in particular powerful government officials, have taken for granted. As is often said by President Noynoy himself, “we cannot go on with business as usual.”

Aside from encouraging moral transformation, however, one of the most meaningful changes that this administration can initiate or undertake is Charter Change to correct inherent flaws in an outdated system that has not worked well for this country. It’s like an old car with a new driver. Noynoy is the driver of a car that continues to break down. And with all due respect to Fr. Joaquin Bernas, an eminent constitutionalist and one of those who drafted the 1987 Constitution—I don’t think the idea of Charter Change is humorous at all, nor do I agree with his statement that it is too early to be thinking about Charter Change.

On the contrary, now is the perfect time for government to initiate moves to amend the Constitution with President Noynoy Aquino enjoying a very high trust rating of 88 percent. And since PNoy has just begun his term, people will not look at Cha-cha as a ploy to expand the president’s powers and extend his term beyond 2016. After all, fierce resistance to Charter Change in the past was driven by fears that the proposed Constitutional amendments were nothing but thinly disguised attempts to extend the term of government officials, like in the past with former president Fidel Ramos and subsequently with former president Gloria Arroyo.

Fortunately, President Noy himself does not find Cha-Cha a laughing matter and ostensibly has an open mind about it, with plans to create a commission to review the 1987 “Cory” Constitution and perhaps, even improve on the very Charter his mother initiated. As for arguments by anti-Cha-cha groups that amending the Constitution might divert efforts to end poverty and achieve prosperity and justice—it is precisely the flaws in the present Charter with its unclear and outdated provisions that have been some of the reasons why this country continues to lag behind its more prosperous neighbors.

For one thing, foreign businessmen have to be assured that the rug will not be pulled from under their feet, like what happened in 1997 when the Supreme Court prevented a Malaysian consortium from bidding for the Manila Hotel, citing a “patrimonial” provision that said the historic hotel should remain under Filipino ownership. That is a perfect example why many foreign companies are shying away from the country due to vague provisions and volatile interpretations that have resulted in “reversals” of major deals.

This perception of the Philippines as an unreliable investment destination due to changing policies is one of the many reasons why foreign investments have been very low. Add to that the horrific experiences of large companies like Fraport that invested heavily in the NAIA 3 Terminal. Because of that highly-publicized, corruption-riddled deal, an executive who was asked in a European forum if his company would invest in the Philippines retorted with a question: “Why should we invest in a country where there are 80 million crooks?” As a Filipino, you want to kill the guy. But the fact is the Philippines attracted only $1.52 billion in FDI for 2008—the least FDI among six ASEAN nations with Vietnam surpassing the Philippines with its total of $8.05 billion.

Under the present Charter, the President has the power to appoint not only the members of his official family but also the Ombudsman and members of the Supreme Court including the Chief Justice. President Noy can avoid controversies such as those that hounded his predecessor—for instance the so-called midnight appointments—by modifying the process and having appointees in the Judiciary go through a stringent confirmation process as well.

In the United States, the president can “nominate” ambassadors, public officials and judges of the Supreme Court—but all these nominees including the Chief Justice have to go through a confirmation process by the US Senate. Oftentimes, these confirmations can become testy and tedious with the nominee going through the wringer as his qualifications, character, experience and sometimes even his personal lifestyle including his political points of view are thoroughly examined and questioned.

No question the 1987 Constitution is far from perfect—and this is something no one can dispute, not even anti-Cha-cha groups. One glaring example is Article II, Section 26 which states, “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties…”—but it stopped short of defining what political dynasties are, compounded by the fact that it needs an enabling law which, to this day, has never been passed for obvious reasons.

President Aquino has the opportunity to make a difference by initiating modifications to the present Charter to keep it responsive to the changing times and the changing needs of close to 100 million Filipinos. He is the perfect person to do it now because he enjoys a high trust rating. He can bring about the most substantial, meaningful and lasting change which in my view is Charter Change. The time to do it is now. Tomorrow may be too late.