Prof. Dante Gatmaytan on Charter Change: “An assembly beholden to the President may not necessarily produce the best document”

Barely ten years into the 1987 Constitution and under every administration after, there have been calls for amending the governing Charter of the country. However, the public has consistently shot down the proposal for just one reason alone –  a universal “skepticism that these attempts were mere ploys to eliminate term limits” for political office, said Law Professor Dante Gatmaytan when interviewed on previous attempts to amend the 1987 Constitution.

With Federalism of the country being a priority of the Duterte government, Charter change is once again in the public forum with the Lower House in Congress making a determined effort to convene as a Constitutional Assembly to push through the President’s program. Asked to comment, Professor Gatmaytan opined that   “An assembly beholden to the President may not necessarily produce the best document. Any project that involves drafting the fundamental law of the land will benefit from serious deliberation founded on contending views, not a mere collection of ‘yes’ men.” 

The complete Rappler article “LOOK BACK: Past Charter Change attempts and why they failed” may be accessed at:  https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/flashback/193825-past-attempts-charter-change-philippines-failed