Draft federal charter nears its finalization

CHARTER DRAFTERS --- Members of the Consultative Committee at work as the body wants the public to be empowered to amend the charter or amend a law. (Photo by CNN Philippines/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)

MANILA --- President Rodrigo R. Duterte will receive the draft federal Constitution before he delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23.

Duterte’s Consultative Committee (Concom) to review the 1987 Constitution disclosed this last June 7, noting that the body will have the draft charter submitted to him on July 9.

“ConCom is on track to submit the adopted draft on July 9 in time for the SONA (on July 23),” Concom Senior Technical Assistant and Spokesperson Ding Generoso said in a press conference at the Philippine International Convention Center.

According to Generoso, the completed Articles are now being refined, edited for style and proofread for consistency.

There are only three remaining Articles to be finalized between now and June 14 namely: Federated Regions, Transitory Provisions, and Amendments.

The entire draft Constitution will be voted on in one en banc session tentatively on June 14 before Eid'l Fitr or the end of Ramadan, he added.

Regional consultations

Before finalizing the draft charter, regional presentations and consultations are also expected to take place this month.

The Concom schedule shows that regional consultations will kick off in Dumaguete City from June 17 to 19 and will follow in Butuan and Legaspi City from June 21 to 23, and Baguio and Tacloban City from June 25 to 27.

Generoso said that the Concom will be working with the Presidential Management Staff-Office of Regional Concerns, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and Presidential Communications Operations Office-Philippine Information Agency in holding the consultations.

Once the Concom has adopted the complete draft, Generoso said that the Technical Working Group and Secretariat will review and proofread the draft charter to ensure accuracy and consistency.

It will also include side-by-side comparison with the 1987 Constitution to ensure that provisions not intended to be amended, revised or deleted remain consistent. It will also finalize the annotations consolidate all supporting research data, studies, and other documents that will form part of the report to the President.

The Concom will again meet en banc to have one final look at the adopted draft Constitution and review the annotations during the first week of July. (Azer Parrocha, PNA/MINDANAO EXPOSE’)