“What is beneficial with the Lower House’s pushing mightily to interpret the Constitution the way it wants, is that the Supreme Court will eventually have to decide on this.”
by Ducky Paredes
Does our constitution need changing? Of course, it does. In fact, what it needs is a thorough overhaul, Our constitution is bipolar in the sense of having “two opposite or contradictory ideas or natures.” In fact, there may be more than two contradictions in it.
Our problems begin, however. with how to go about changing the constitution. Reading the Constitution itself is not much help because although the Constitution itself tells us how to go about making the changes, there is really no way that the Constitution provides a clear way for us to go.
The problem stems from the fact that the first template that was used by the Constitutional Commission (50 wise men and women handpicked by then President Cory Aquino) was the Marcos Constitution that had a unicameral legislature. When the Constitution was almost about done, a decision was made to change the legislature into a bi-cameral one – with a Senate and a Lower (or, if you prefer, Larger) House.
Unfortunately, whoever was editing the final version of the document did not do his job well enough. Thus, the Constitution, tells us the first two ways that the document itself may be amended: “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.”
Under a unicameral congress, this would be no problem at all. This was the provision as written when we had a unicameral legislature. Since the legislature was changed to a bi-cameral one, however, how does one now determine what is “a vote of three-fourths of all its Members”? One theory is that the Comsitutional Commission, in its haste to come up with a Constitution — since we were then under a revolutionary, albeit benign, government – forgot to include the phrase that was in our previous constitution that had a bi-cameral legislature that had the phrase: “in joint session assembled, voting separatey.”
Thus, according to this theory, the complete provision should have read thus: “Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by: “The Congress, in joint session assembled, voting separatey, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members; or (2) A constitutional convention.”
If only the editors of the document could have taken half a day longer to re-read the provision, they might have realized that a monumental mistake had been inadavertently committed.
So, now, we have a Constitution that is impossible to amend. What is beneficial with the Lower House’s pushing mightily to interpret the Constitution the way it wants, is that the Supreme Court will eventually have to decide on this. Whatever the SC decides is the way that the Constitution can be amended. Thus, it is good that the Lower House has done what it did. Finally, we will be able to figure out – with the help of the SC interpreting it for us – how to amend our most important document.
It is not the best way to go. The SC should have been kept out of the debate but the push by the Congress for amendments will eventually end up in the Supreme Court. Thus, this is the way that things will go.
Then, hopefully, if the SC has decided on whether or not the House can go it alone without the Senate or that the Senate must join the House and vote together with the cngressmen or that the House and Senate must vote separately, we ought to be able to eventually proceed with changing the Constitution.
When that happens, hopefully, the revisions will include those that will defang the Supreme Court and prevent it from sticking its nose into everyone’s business such the business of our Constitutional Commissions. The SC should also be taught to accept the findings of the scientific community and the SC must be prevented from making decisions based on its wrong perceptions about scientific facts and findings.
Then, the other changes can come in that would allow this Country’s economics to be improved by deleting the provisions that deny those who can contribute to our economic progress – whether Pinoys or foreigners – their chance to do their bit.
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A friend who was into boxing as a younger man called me Sunday. When I called him back, all he wanted was to complain about the annotating and inance commentary in the match at the Araneta Coliseum between Pinoy Brian Viloria and the Mexican Champion Ulisis Solis.
What he found irritating, he said, was that the Pinoy broadcasters were not so much as reporting on what was going on in the ring but were more keen on being critical of Viloria and in praising the Mexican fighter for his speed, strength, stamina, bravery and everything else they could think of. Viloria – the Hawaiian Punch – on the other hand, according to the Piinoy talkng heads, was a dismal failure who was an easy, immobie target, tired easily and had no heart.
I took this into advisement and, not being a dyed-in-the-wool boxing fan, promptly forgot about it.
On Monday evening, while switching channels, I came across the start of a replay of the Viloria-Solis fight. I decided to watch it. Two rounds into the fight, I was screaming at the TV with just about what my friend, the boxer, had observed about how they were calling the fight. They did not call the fight at all. Instead, they were talking about two fighters who were not in the ring – a lazy Viloria and a great boxing genius named Solis. Of course, having watched it the day after the fight, I already knew that Viloria knocked Solis out in the 11th round. Still, it was irritating having to listen to inane comments that were not at all germane to what was showing on my TV screen,
Eventually, I shut down the audio and enjoyed Brian “The Hawaiian Punch” Viloria’s complete mastery of former Champion Ulisis Solis. Viloria controlled the fight for most of the time from beginning to end except for some few and far between moments where Solis put in a few punches. In the end, a bloodied and disconcerted Solis, went down on the canvas and was counted out from a Viloria punch.
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hvp 04.21.09)
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