PAGBABAGO
Last Monday, the House plenary, by a vote of 301, approved RBH 6, thus moving towards a change in the 1987 Constitution through a hybrid Constitutional Convention. Only six from the minority bloc voted against it. For a House that takes its time in deliberating on most bills and resolutions, including those that directly contribute to social transformation, this is what I call “undue haste.” Unwarranted, unjustifiable. Especially because we are reeling from economic upheavals. And, also, because this is International Women’s Month, a time when we honor our women and their contribution to nation-building.
Our representatives would like to change a charter that is one of the first in the world when it comes to recognizing primacy of “substantive” justice, which is how former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno describes the kind of justice espoused by our Constitution – equal opportunity at the starting line by acknowledging existing inequalities.
During our constitutional debates, I had likewise argued that what we should focus on is the need to upgrade individual capabilities and productivity, improve access to opportunity through education and information, and ensure equitable sharing of fruits and means of production and participation of people in development planning and to let the disparities, the inequalities that divide us surface. By focusing on the plight of people who live under subhuman conditions, we may evolve a government that would work towards narrowing disparities.
In his recent EDSA anniversary celebration speech, Commissioner Christian Monsod pointed out that the Constitution that they want to change “emphasizes equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good. It gives social and economic rights equal primacy because we are a country of inequalities where the starting points of the rich and poor are not equal. It is not enough to provide “equality of opportunity” and “fair process” without being concerned about “outcomes.”
Because we are talking about women’s equality and empowerment, let us examine our 1987 Constitution which Justice Puno cites as exemplary in the sense that social justice can be found in the preamble and in all articles.
On Article 2, Section 14, the provision recognizing women’s role in nation-building that was authored by the President of the Constitutional Commission Justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma, this is what Commissioner Adolf Azcuna said when he moved to retain the words “fundamental equality before the law of women and men.” When it was pointed out that there may be a redundancy vis-à-vis provision on the Bill of Rights – “nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws,” Azcuna insisted on the words “equality of women and men” to emphasize that women shall not be second fiddle in nation-building.” (Puno, Reynato, Equal Dignity & Respect, The Substance of Equal Protection and Social Justice 2012.)
Likewise, another advocate for women’s rights, Hansa Mehta, Indian delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission, was responsible in changing the phrase, “All men are born free and equal” in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to a more inclusive one – “All human beings are born free and equal.”
We recognize the voices of our own legislators and women leaders. There is Senator Risa Hontiveros, chair of the Senate Committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, as well as the rights of “invisible women;” Senator Loren Legarda, the longest serving senator who authored the “Magna Carta of Women;” and “Anti-Violence Against Women,” Gabriela Party List with its Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Rep. France Castro, and past women legislators – Senator Santanina Rasul who co-authored with Senator Raul Roco, R.A. 7192, “Women on Development and Nation Building,” a landmark bill as it integrated women as full and equal partners in development;” Senator Miriam Santiago, for her advocacy on women as agents of economic change;” Senator Pia Cayetano for her advocacy on healthcare and education for children; Senator Leticia Shahani, who, according to women’s rights advocates, Aurora J. de Dios and Emmeline Verzosa, “was a women’s rights pioneer, led the drafting of a convention on the elimination of discrimination against women, defied the Cold War tensions by enlisting the Soviet Union as a co-sponsor, expanded the legal definition of rape, fought for equal pay, and a mandate that all Philippine government agencies allocate at least five percent of their budgets to gender and development issues.”
Vice President and former Rep. Leni Robredo, advocated for women empowerment especially in the crafting of policies on the economy, and for appointment of women to higher positions. Finally, let me mention veteran senators who have performed admirably in pushing social legislation on education, women and children’s rights – Senators Helena Benitez, Geronima Pecson, Tecla San Andres Ziga, Eva Estrada-Kalaw, among others.
Our legislators blame the Constitution for our present social and economic problems. As Chris Monsod had emphasized, the problem is not the Constitution. It is because we have not fully implemented it. Programs on social justice, human rights, and local autonomy, are underperforming because they are either underfunded or, with loopholes, he noted.
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