Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert “Ace” Barbers on Wednesday said the time has come to revise the 1987 Constitution to make it responsive to the situation and reality on the ground.
“To say that a review is premature or that amendments are not needed at this time sounds like a broken record already because that has been their argument since 1995 when then President (Fidel) Ramos tinkered with the idea of reviewing the charter to make it responsive to our economic needs,” Barbers said in a statement.
Barbers, chair of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said people opposing Charter change (Cha-cha) “are not in touch with the people on the ground and are not attuned to their sentiments.”
“Unlike congressmen, governors and mayors who are working directly, closely and daily with their constituents, they do not have direct district constituents. That is the reason for their expected and usual reaction,” he said. “We see the economic struggles of our constituents, yet we can only do so much.”
Barbers said he fully support the call of Speaker Martin Romualdez to tackle the 36-year-old Constitution next year, particularly the economic, social and political provisions.
“We have to wake up from our deep slumber and constant denial for the need to change. It is time for a reality check. The time is now!,” he said.
Barbers said passing economic laws to cure the flaws of the Constitution “is an admission that the Charter has failed us economically, politically and socially.”
“Even if Congress passes thousands of economic laws in contravention of the Constitution, nothing will change. They will be questioned before the Supreme Court. It is a waste of valuable resources,” he added.
In the political provisions, Barbers said admissions of some of the framers of the Constitution that they had no concrete basis for putting the three-year term caps on the House members is a reason to give it a second look.
“Now we have elections every three years. With the most recent SC (Supreme Court) decision of BSK (barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan) elections, we might have yearly elections. Yet we wonder why we are in the bottom standings of the world,” he said.
Barbers said it is time to require and place qualifications for elected officials so that the country can really move forward.
“Let us do away with making our elections a popularity contest and a mockery of our only chance to uplift our own lives,” he added. ”A review is very much consistent with the good intent of improving our political, economic and social systems should we find them lacking, so that we can bring the country closer to our neighbors in terms of development.”
‘Worker-center’ relations
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) supported efforts to revisit national policies to attract more foreign investments in the country.
TUCP Vice President Luis Corral said the administration’s goal in incentivizing the entry of more foreign direct investments to the country would be critical in creating new, permanent, and decent jobs for Filipinos.
“We stand ready to partner to promote progressive, worker-centered, and race-to-the-top labor relations to attract investors to set up shop here and generate more and better jobs for all because trade is inextricably tied to the full and free exercise of workers’ rights,” Corral said in a statement on Wednesday.
Aside from revisiting the Constitution, Corral stressed that placing the workers’ rights “front-and-center” not only in the country’s labor and employment policies, but also in nation-building would make the Philippines a priority investment destination.
Corral said the government should particularly address the need to amplify the right of workers’ freedom of association, which includes the right to organize.
He said this pro-labor rights pivot serves as an “international seal of good housekeeping” for sustainable businesses either to invest in the Philippines or to export tariff-free to foreign markets, generating more and better jobs for Filipino working families. (PNA)