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Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Aportadera: New Charter, no manna
By Billy Aportadera
Rights and duties
THE country is entering into a mid-year constitutional crisis. The Sigaw ng Bayan backed up by the administration's Department of Local Government is still pushing hard its people's initiatives, which however, are being stalled by strong opposition from the Catholic Church and other religious groups.
Congress is still grappling with the Senate to convene in a constituent assembly to amend the constitution or to legislate a constitutional convention.
The backdrop of these is the threat by the political opposition to file another complaint to impeach the President and the coming local and congressional elections. In addition, there is the looming and worsening global spiraling of oil prices that is causing restlessness among the middle and lower classes of society.
The proposition that amending the constitution and changing the form of government from presidential to parliamentary would be the manna from heaven that would reeve up our lagging economy and stabilize our political situation is no longer feasible and realistic.
The reality is that it is the frailty of political will in the national leadership and lack of popular support for the present administration that is creating the crisis, and not the present constitutional structure. The rising incidence of violations of human rights, warrantless arrests, torture under detention, the resurgence of political killings and "salvaging," the trampling of the people's right to peaceably assemble to seek redress of grievance from government, and the gagging of the freedom of the press are not because the constitution does not provide enough safeguards and protections, but because of the failure of the national leadership to respect the bill of rights of the people they govern.
The constitutional structure of government is not to be faulted for the lingering endemic corruption of government bureaucracy. The constitutional institutions are in place but there is absence the political will to abate corruption. Instead, the national leadership tolerates corruption within the system.
No high-ranking government official has been jailed for corruption. Government has not succeeded in prosecuting and securing final conviction of a government official beyond the level of a Regional Director, Bureau Director, a Mayor, a Governor, a Lieutenant in the Armed Forces and in the Police Force.
A truce on debates and moratorium on initiatives for constitutional change should be declared by the President. Precious time can be re-directed to resolving and closing the issue of cheating during the 2004 presidential elections. The issue will keep on ringing back to the subconscious of the nation. It will continue to disrupt the fragile fiber of our present political and economic web. It will continue to divide the nation. In the meantime, corruption in government and violations of human rights will continue to be part of our national character. .
Attorney Abelardo "Billy" Aportadera Jr., former Commissioner on Human Rights and former Assistant Ombudsman, is a practicing lawyer and a member of Philconsa
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (June 13, 2006 issue)
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