President Duterte is expected to sign the executive order forming the team which will study the revision of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign the draft executive order forming the Constitutional Commission which will study the provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution that are eyed for revision.
The Malacañan Palace expects the signing be made not later than September.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said, if the president could sign the draft executive order, the commission can start its work immediately.
Abella said: “Regarding the Constitutional Commission, it is hoped that the President will be signing this on, by, in the month of September so that they can begin to study, to begin to study the provisions of the revision”.
Last Tuesday, August 29, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez submitted to the Palace the draft executive order forming the Constitutional Commission that will provide technical assistance to Congress acting as constituent assembly. Alvarez was hoping that the president will sign the EO soon and appoint the members of the con-com immediately after signing.
The members of the con-com will submit their recommendation on the provisions of the Constitution which they wish to revise. Expected to be included in the Charter revisions is the shift to a federal form of government, to the constituent assembly comprising the Senate and the House of the Representatives.
Alvarez said, under the proposed timeline, the new Constitution will be up for ratification by the public by the 2019 midterm elections. Once the new Charter is ratified, the officials of the federal form of government would be elected during the elections on 2022.
President Duterte earlier asked Congress to hasten the approval of the federal-parliamentary form of government to end the decades-long ‘power vortes” which is dominated by the rich and influencial few in the country.
He proposed to distribute development, business and employment opportunities that are now concentrated in Metro Manila.