MANILA, Philippines — Human rights and social justice should remain at the heart of any proposed amendment or revision to the 1987 Constitution, the Commission on Human Rights said Friday.
In a statement, CHR called on the personalities initiating the charter change to apply human rights as an ultimate standard.
“Any change must retain, if not strengthen, the constitutional primacy given to human rights and human dignity under the present constitution and the process of change must be based on transparency, respect for diversity, inclusion and genuine participation,” it said.
The commission emphasized that the proposed changes in the three-decade old Constitution must continue to recognize the protection of life, liberty and property, and the promotion of the general welfare of the people.
“Any contrary change would be disgrace to our history, nature and identity as a freedom-loving people of the first democratic republic in Asia. It would be diving back into the abyss of abuse and greed that we have crawled out as a people,” CHR said.
It said the 1987 Constitution has been hailed as a “human rights constitution” as the civil and political rights it provides is “among the most forceful of any fundamental law of any member of the international community.”
The 1987 Constitution itself has provided for the creation of the CHR, which is tasked to “investigate, on its own or on complaint by any party, all forms of human rights violations involving civil and political rights.”
The commission added that the proposed charter change must maintain and strengthen constitutional institutions.
Con-con for CHR
For CHR, Constitutional Convention should be that mode of changing the Constitution, citing it provides the greatest possibility of participation by and representation of the people.
“Allowing the formation of a constitutional convention with members elected at large and by sector would make the process as inclusive as it could possibly be,” it said.
The commission added: “It is the process most akin to the human rights based-approach in governance. And such is a necessity in an extremely diverse society like ours.”
Charter change is among the top priorities of the 17th Congress this year. The Senate and the House of Representatives began deliberations on charter change last January.
The leaders of Senate and House of Representatives have agreed to focus on identifying constitutional amendments that will be presented to the people instead of fighting over how to amend the charter.
President Rodrigo Duterte appointed 19 members to the consultative committee who will review the 1987 Constitution. It is chaired by former chief justice Reynato Puno, a federalism advocate.
READ: Former chief justices disagree on need for charter change, but not on mode