Strengthen the LGC

Egay Uy .

I ATTENDED a supposed forum on the proposed Federal Constitution on Friday. This was hosted by the Ateneo Policy Center, the public policy think tank of the Ateneo School of Government, in partnership with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and Xavier University. Thanks to the invitation of Mr. Nestor Banuag and Dean Roel Ravanera, XU’s vice president for social development.

Discussed in several sessions were the rationale and features of federalism by an assistant professor of the UP department of political science, and a deeper look at federalism by a nonesident research fellow of the Ateneo School of Government.

The second session had former senate president Aquilino Pimentel as the presentor, with four reactors, namely, former senator Jose D. Lina Jr., Charlito Manlupig, chairperson of Balay Mindanaw Foundation Inc., Louie Joseph Lopez, vice president of the XU association of law students.

Mayor Oscar Moreno who flew in from Manila via first flight to receive awards reaped by the city, arrived in time to give his reaction.

(By the way, Cagayan de Oro was named the Top 5 Most Competitive City in the highly urbanized cities category which is five ranks higher compared to its overall ranking last year. The city also ranked first in the resiliency category among highly-urbanized cities at the 6th Regional Competitiveness Summit at the Philippine International Convention Center last August 16.)

Back to the forum. Former senator Lina eloquently expressed his reaction to the proposed federal constitution.  He began by narrating how the former senate president influenced him into the world of public service.  In sum, however, he expressed apprehensions about the proposal to shift to federalism.

One of the speakers in the morning session said that as surveyed, about 75 percent of the people in the country do now know what the Philippine Constitution is. This is quite alarming because these could be the ones who will vote to ratify the proposed charter.

The Local Government Code of 1991 was enacted supposedly to give local governments more leeway and autonomy in governing their own affairs.  While it is not perfect, it has somehow provided the gateway towards self-governance.

There are good provisions in the proposed federal constitution, such as Article V on Suffrage and Political Rights. Specifically, Section 8 of this article is a self-executing prohibition against political dynasties. Another good provision is the improvement in the qualifications of those who run for public office, as opposed to the existing provision of merely “being able to read and write.”

Amending the charter as a whole will take so much effort, time and money and there will still remain the uncertainty that the campaign to “educate” the people about it will reach more than the twenty-five percent who are currently supposedly aware that there exists a fundamental law of the land.

Why don’t we just introduce the good provisions in the proposed charter to the existing constitution so that public information and education will be focused on them thus ensuring more intelligent discussions?

Then, as a simultaneous move, introduce amendments to the Local Government Code to afford local governments with more autonomy.

(Egay Uy is a lawyer who serves in the city’s Regulatory and Complaints Board, and price coordinating council.)