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Thursday, October 06, 2005
Malig: Clark as capital of the Federal Republic
By Jun A. Malig
"SECTION 1. The Federal Republic of the Philippines. The Federal Republic of the Philippines consists of the Federasyon (Federation) and New Manila - the Federal Capital to be planned and built in the Clark Special Economic Zone in Pampanga - and the ten constituent Estados (States) and their local governments."
This is the first section of "The 1987 Constitution as Revised" drafted and published by the Citizens' Movement for a Federal Philippines (CMFP). Incidentally, Dr. Jose Abueva, chair of the CMFP's advisory board and editor of the group's draft Constitution, was elected as the president of the Consultative Constitutional Commission (ConCom) last September 28.
The commission, created by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last month, includes among its distinguished members our cabalens City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez (regional vice chairperson for Luzon) and Angeles University Foundation Chancellor and former Clark Development Corp. president Emmanuel Y. Angeles.
A few days ago, Iloilo Representative Rolex Suplico called for the abolition of ConCom, saying the creation of the body "is an insult" to Congress. He said Congress has the sole authority to propose amendments in the 1987 Constitution. However, the Consultative Commission is undaunted by Suplico's statement. It has started its nationwide consultations with different sectors regarding the proposed amendments to the primary law of the land, particularly the shifting from the current unitary-presidential system to federal-parliamentary form of government.
While I was writing this column Wednesday morning, Dr. Angeles and another Concom member, Naval, Biliran Mayor Gerardo Espina Sr., were scheduled to attend the weekly Kampus Kapihan sa AUF in Angeles City as guest speakers. The two were expected to answer the queries of students, newsmen and other participants about the commission and proposed Charter change. Mayor Rodriguez is also expected to commence this week his function in the consultative body.
In the CMFP's draft Constitution, 10 autonomous regional governments to be known as Estados will be established. These are: 1) Bangsamoro, 2) Central and Southern Mindanao, 3) Northern and Western Mindanao, 4) Eastern Visayas, 5) Western Visayas-Palawan, 6) Bicol, 7) Southern Luzon, 8) Metro Manila, 9) Central Luzon, and 10) Northern Luzon and Cordillera. The CMFP maintained the Bill of Rights (Article III) but added a new article in its proposed Constitution known as the "Bill of Duties and Obligations." Its section 1 states: "Loyalty, obedience, cooperation. It shall be the duty of the citizen to be loyal to the Federal Republic of the Philippines and to honor the Philippine flag, to defend the State and contribute to its development and welfare, to uphold the 1987 Constitution and obey the laws, and to cooperate with the duly constituted authorities in the attainment and preservation of a peaceful, just and orderly society."
The new article's section four also obligates every Filipino to find a job. "Section 4. Duty to work. It shall be the duty of every citizen to engage in gainful work and to work well to assure himself/herself and his/her family a life worthy of human dignity." I find this particular section of the CMFP's draft Constitution to be amusing, especially because of the country's rapidly growing population and a rapidly growing labor force that continuously surpass the employment opportunities being offered by public and private establishments. Many educated members of the labor force are forced to find gainful employment in foreign lands, as they face not only unemployment in their own country but also underemployment or underpayment.
In editing the CMFP's draft Constitution, Abueva explained that adding the "Bill of Duties and Obligations" would be necessary to build a strong nation. "We, Filipinos, should balance our concern for and undue emphasis on our individual rights and entitlements with our corresponding individual, collective and communitarian (sic) duties and obligations. In this way we could become better and more effective citizens in solidarity with our kapwa Pilipino; we could build a strong and united national community and a peaceful, just and humane society," he said in his editorial note.
"The 1935 Constitution and the 1987 Constitution did not have a Bill of Duties and Obligations of Citizens. In the following text, Sections 1,2 and 4 and part of Section 5 are lifted from the 1973 Constitution as amended. The underlined words and Sections 3, 6, 7 and 8 are further amendments by the Federalism Research Project," Abueva added.
We'll discuss more the Constitutional amendments in my future columns.
(October 6, 2005 issue)
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