Amendment to the Constitution

Lord Acton said that power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I agree. That is why in government there must be separation of powers and there must be sytems of checks and balances. The belief in a benevolent dictator is foolishness. We cannot afford to simply trust our national leaders that they will do good. The Bible tells us that the human heart is deceitful and desperately sick. Meaning, any dictator can actually make himself believe that he is doing good when, in fact, he is being wicked.

With this regard, any initiative in favor of convening the House of Representatives as a constituent assembly or of a constitutional convention must be stopped immediately. Amendments to our 1987 Constitution must go through the process one amendment at a time - - as in the matter of shifting from a bicameral to a unicameral legislative body. This way there won't be any extra expense to the taxpayers while providing ample time for deliberation. If this happens, there must be sufficient and intelligent media coverage of any such deliberation so that the Filipino people may be properly informed and be given the opportunity to weigh in on any amendment proposal before a vote by Congress is taken. Before anything else, as to whether the House of Representatives and the Senate are to vote jointly or separately must be cleared up. Congress must put this ambiguity to the test by proposing an amendment of lesser consequence than the abolishment of the Senate, and letting it run its course.

I suggest that we, the people, tackle these issues right now. So please comment.

1. Are you in favor of abolishing the Senate?

2. Should both houses of Congress vote jointly or separately with regards to making amendments to our Constitution?

I do not want the Senate to be abolished because of the Action argument. Some members of Congress say that the present legislative set-up prevents the passing of more bills. Some are concerned that GMA is behind the current Cha-Cha initiative in order to perpetuate her powers.

True People Power is when politicians actually care about public opinion.

What do you think? Please weigh in now.