Manila

The head of the Philippines’ Catholic Church said he does not agree with President Benigno Aquino III’s plans to amend the statute, while pointing out that such a move would be self serving at this time.

“As a citizen I cannot lend support to constitutional amendments that merely serve the purposes of one office-holder or one class of persons. Constitutional amendments are justified only in the measure that they redound to the benefit of the nation and address long long-festering problems arising out of ambiguities in the Constitution,” Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said.

During an exclusive interview with the TV5 network last Wednesday, President Aquino gsaid some provisions in the current constitution were not perfect and that it needs improvements to keep pace with the times. The statement was a major departure to those he gave in the past concerning charter amendments wherein he said that under the current constitution, the country’s economy is already doing well.

But during the interview, Aquino hinted that he is open to the possibility of extending the term of the President, although he pointed out that does not necessarily mean him.

The current, 27-year-old Constitution bars an incumbent President from seeking re-election and limits his or her term to six years. The statute had not undergone changes since it was adopted during the presidency of Corazon Aquino.

In the interview with TV5, Aquino also mentioned that certain provisions of the statute pertaining to powers of the Supreme Court and the judiciary must be amended. Aquino has been very vocal in his tirades against the Supreme Court after it ruled last month that the President’s actions concerning the Disbursement Acceleration Programme (DAP) were illegal.

The DAP was resorted to by the Aquino administration ostensibly to fast track funding of important government projects.

But various sectors, including the Church, said such measures defeat the purpose of checks and balance embodied in democratic institutions where Congress is given oversight functions and has a say on important acts of governance such as allocating budgets for government agencies.

Through the DAP, the President can virtually override budget-setting powers, traditionally reserved to congress, for certain agencies including the judiciary.

On this, Villegas said: “We cannot support the proposed curtailment of the power of judicial review. Against the heavy hand of the State or transgressions of the Constitution by politicians, judicial review is the only recourse of the hapless citizen.”

Villegas is also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and was a known to be close with the late Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin.

Sin had been regarded as the moving force who played an important role in the overthrow of then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr in 1986. The mass action placed Corazon C. Aquino, mother of the current Chief Executive, to the presidency.

For its part, the palace said the Aquino’s openness to charter amendments was to ensure continuation of the reforms in government that his administration has started.

Aquino repeated his frequent statement that he has to listen to what his “bosses” wants.

“Listening to his bosses” he says, means asking them how the reforms he had begun would remain beyond his term of office.