Puno says Consultative Committee voted on presidential system

FILE: Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno (PNA Photo)

Head of Consultative Committee on Charter Change (Cha-cha) former Chief Justice Reynato Puno said that the members voted to push for a presidential system in a federal set-up of Philippine government.

“Maraming naging rason ‘yung miyembro ng committee na bakit presidential system ang maging porma ng ating federal government with respect to the executive power (The members of the committee had a lot of reasons on why the form of our federal government will have a presidential system),” Puno said in an interview with GMA on March 5.

He then explained, “Ang isang common reason nila ay ‘yung presidential system ay familiar na sa atin. Magmula pa noong 1935 Constitution, noong 1973 Constitution at dito sa 1987 Constitution ay presidential system na ang porma ng gobyerno (One of their common reason is that we are familiar with the presidential system.  Ever since the 1935 Constitution, the 1973 Constitution, and here in the 1987 Constitution, the presidential system is the form of the government.”

According to Puno, with the Filipinos’ familiarity of the presidential system for many years, it is not advisable to “experiment” on another form.

“Hindi tayo pwedeng sumugal sa isang form ng gobyerno na wala pa tayong karanasan (We should not risk for a form of government that we have no experience with),” he added.

In late January, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte formed the committee to study the proposals on the amendments of the Constitution that will pave way for a federal form of government.

The President has been consistent in pushing a shift to federalism, seeing it as the key to addressing several of the country’s problems.

Duterte said that keeping the same type of government will also keep the same problems the country is facing. “But you will remember me for this.

I am sure when I am gone, and everything is not all right, you will remember me,” he said in August last year.

(Read: Duterte on federalism: You will remember me for this)