RESULTADOS DE BÚSQUEDA

AMENDMENT.

(By Christopher Ontog)

ARTICLE XVII on Amendments or Revisions

Section 1. Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by:

(1) The Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members; or

(2) A constitutional convention.

Section 2. Amendments to this Constitution may likewise be directly proposed by the people through initiative upon a petition of at least twelve per centum of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three per centum of the registered voters therein. No amendment under this section shall be authorized within five years following the ratification of this Constitution nor oftener than once every five years thereafter.

The Congress shall provide for the implementation of the exercise of this right.

Section 3. The Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of all its Members, call a constitutional convention, or by a majority vote of all its Members, submit to the electorate the question of calling such a convention.

Section 4. Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution under Section 1 hereof shall be valid when ratified by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite which shall be held not earlier than sixty days nor later than ninety days after the approval of such amendment or revision.

Any amendment under Section 2 hereof shall be valid when ratified by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite which shall be held not earlier than sixty days nor later than ninety days after the certification by the Commission on Elections of the sufficiency of the petition.

Article VI on The Legislative Department

Section 25. (1) The Congress may not increase the appropriations recommended by the President for the operation of the Government as specified in the budget. The form, content, and manner of preparation of the budget shall be prescribed by law.

(4) A special appropriations bill shall specify the purpose for which it is intended, and shall be supported by funds actually available as certified by the National Treasurer, or to be raised by a corresponding revenue proposal therein.

Section 29. (1) No money shall be paid out of the Treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by law.

(2) No public money or property shall be appropriated, applied, paid, or employed, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution, or system of religion, or of any priest, preacher, minister, other religious teacher, or dignitary as such, except when such priest, preacher, minister, or dignitary is assigned to the armed forces, or to any penal institution, or government orphanage or leprosarium.

(3) All money collected on any tax levied for a special purpose shall be treated as a special fund and paid out for such purpose only. If the purpose for which a special fund was created has been fulfilled or abandoned, the balance, if any, shall be transferred to the general funds of the Government.

According to Article XVII in our 1987 Constitution, there are 3 possible ways for an amendment or a revision of the Constitution. The first one is through a Constitutional Convention. Second is through a Constituent Assembly. Third and final is through a People Initiative. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution. An unlimited constitutional

convention is called to revise an existing constitution to the extent that it deems to be proper;

whereas a limited constitutional convention is restricted to revising only the areas of the current constitution named in the convention's call.

With a Constituent Assembly, the entire process is broken into two stages. The first stage involves proposing amendments to the Constitution and holding plebiscite or plebiscites that are needed; and the second stage would be on creating state and federal governments.

Based from a comprehensive report in 2003, the partial cost for the first stage of the Constitutional Convention would be more or less Php 95,600,000. The said Constituent Assembly will only operate for about 6 months. Recalculated and adjusted, the cost would reach to Php 142,628,374. The Php 142,628,374 amount does not even include the salaries of 261 Employee and of the salaries of the two consultants. As a rule, the two consultants need be paid the same rate as the regular Constituent Assembly member. The salaries of the 261 Members would amount to roughly 500,000,000 pesos or more. If the rental cost for the office would also be amounted to, it would be approximately reach Php 300,000,000. Presently, a rough estimate of the expenditure for a Constituent Assembly would reach Php 900,000,000. This estimate is calculated for a six-month expenditure. Anything beyond the 6^th month would apparently escalate the expenditure to enormous proportions.¹⁰⁰

Following the above mentioned stage is an efficient information dissemination. After completion of the proposed amendments, plebiscite campaigns are to be held. One could imagine how much funds are to be expended for such activities.

100 Briones, Liling Magtolis (2008). The Business of Governance.

The next phase, the plebiscite, more over adds on to the overwhelming expenditure. The calculated cost of a plebiscite in 2007 was around Php 2,900,000,000. Adjusted, the cost would presently be around Php 3,419,628,374- Php 5,000,000,000.¹⁰¹

The Constituent Assembly, in contrast to a Constitutional Convention, entails lesser expenditures.¹⁰² A Con Ass is deemed the most practical and least expensive mode of Constitutional amendment due to the following reasons:

(1) There is no need to hold another costly election since members of both the Senate

and House of Representatives, who have been directly elected by the people, will be

the ones who will constitute the Assembly.

(2) The Joint Resolution that will create a Constituent Assembly can limit the agenda of

amendments and protect the good provisions of the current constitution.

(3) Further in the ratification of the proposed amendments, the people can approve only

those that will benefit the country and disapprove the amendments they deem

unacceptable.

(4) Moreover, members of Congress already know what agenda to pursue, thus reducing

horse trading and political accommodations. Having been directly elected by the

people they are responsible for their actions to the electorate.

(5) To address the concern of perceived lack of trust, the proceedings should be made

transparent and civil society organizations can serve as watchdogs to the process. The

Constituent Assembly will solicit and consider the concerns of all sectors in their

101 Ibid.

102 (2003). A Reader on Charter Change, Congressional Planning and Budgetary Department of 2003

discussion, as they do in considering legislation.¹⁰³

Regardless of the aforementioned expenditures, it is CERTAINLY impractical to hold a Constitutional Amendment. The Philippine population recorded as of July 2007 already reached a whooping 91,077,287.¹⁰⁴ Alongside is the growing budget deficit. The billions of pesos to be expended for an Amendment would of course be better allocated for social services, for debt financing, for loans and investments. Some would contend that a Constitutional Amendment is a form of investment. It sure is. An investment would earn provided it is a blue chip. The amendment that we are faced with, due to the dire need to effect a Bangsamoro country and a federalist Philippines, is not a blue chip. To begin with, the “earnings” are very much idealistic. I do not say the objectives are not possible, but they are less likely attainable in a timeframe that needs expedient positive results. We cannot let the people die from hunger while waiting for the effects of Federalism. First things first. Invest on social services—on health, education, and employment—and we move out into allocating a huge budget for any change of governmental form.

To add with, Section 29 of Article VI provides a more compelling reason not to pursue the Constitutional Amendment. Accordingly, no money shall be paid out of the National Treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by law. Where do we henceforth take the budget for the amendment? Wherever it may be, there certainly has to be a letting go of another—a decrease in foreign debt financing, or the military budget, or worst the budget for health and education.

103Ibid.

104 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK 2008