Our future under the Constitution

Media

Part of The Lawyers Journal

Title
Our future under the Constitution
Creator
Recto, Claro M.
Language
English
Year
1960
Subject
Philippines. Constitutions.
Rights
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Fulltext
OUR FUTURE UNDER THE CONSTITUTION• By SENATOR CLARO II. RECTO Thia la the eve of not only Constitution Day but of the Silver Jubilee of ita adoption. It was on February 8, 1985 at 6 :46 in the afternoon, aa recorded by one of ita most diatinguiahed cbroniclera, Dr. JoH M. Arueeo, that the text of the Constitution was pat to a final YOte for its approval by the delep.tea to the Convention. The vote waa, to all Intents and purposes, unanimoua, despite the negative vote ea.at by Delepte Cabili which was not realb' a vote against the Constitution but a maniteat.ation of his objection to the method of enfranchisement of the province of Lanao far 'the el~ of its repreaentativea to the National Assembly. Delegate Cabili wanted an exprea1 provision in the Conatit11lion itaelf for that purpose and not mere conatitutional authority; for a future ordinary enaetment. After voting on th8 Constitution, but before parting from one another, I gave a valedictory ending in a paragraph which I am eoinc t.o repeat. with :your gracious leave, in its original Spanish: "Paaari.n rodando al olvido 'JI a I& nada, loa aiios y 0 los lustros; nuevaa eeneraeionea aueederAn a 1u presentes, cada eual eon un idearlo nuevo 1' su caudal de progrqo aumentado o disminuido a trave& de siglos de aaeensi6n o deeadeneia; el tiempo, en 1nee1ante devenir, had en loa mundoe niat.entes su obra lenta, pero inexorable, de tenovaei6n y exterminio; y la humanidad, hutiada de ai mtama 1 preaa de nuevas locuraa, arrojar& una ves y otra al ineendlo de las eapantabl88 .guerraa del porvenlr los teaoros de la e1Tllisael6n; pero euando nueatros descendienta vuelvan la mirada al pasado en procura de inspiraei6n 1 doctrlna, y fijen au atene16n en esta ley :fundamental qae ahora sale de nueatras ma· nos, confio en que la juzgarh reconoclendo la alteza de nueatros propoaitoa y la magnitud de nuestro eafuerzo, y ver&n que los euidados y afanes que orientaron el eurso de nueatra labor no fueron para recoger aplausoa: del presente y legar nueatros nombres al futuro en el bronee y marmol de ana gloria perdurable. slno realisar para nuestro pueblo, por medlo de esta Conatituei6n, aquel •nto anhelo que palpita en eatas palabras Dena.a de aabiduria humana y de uncion divina eon que un ilustre prelado, clorla del &a· eerdoeio indigena, lnvoc6 al Supremo Hasedor en aquel dia memosable en que lnieiamoa nueatras tareaa: 'Seftor, T'li, que eres fuente de todo pod.er y ori«en de toda bienandanza, haz de Filiplnas un pueblo fells en el que relnaa.' " I~ contained melancholy premonitions about the future, and what seemsd to be a pbophecy of the total war that three years later was to bring misery and desolation to mankind was nothing more than the knowledge acquired from history of a phenomenon that _recur& in cycles. . But becauae I spoke in your name and expressed your feelin1a my parting words were, nevertheless, preg. nant with hope for a great destiny for our people and with faith in the merel.ful Lord Who at that V8l'y hour was bringing them out of secular bondage. That memorable day marked the birth of the Constitution of the Philippines. Almost one half of thoae of ua who participated in its writing have Crosaed the Great Divide. The youngest among u toda1, like delegates Abella, Aldegoer, Canonay, Clorlbel, Cre"" pillo, Conejero, Dungiang, Galang, Gumangan, J"oa6 de Gusman, Joven, Melmdes, Jesds P6re.z, Toribio Perez, and Velasco, may still hope to be among the celebrants of the Golden Jubilee of the Cons. tltution. Beyond that all ot us, its framers, shall be no more. but the Constitution shall, from one centennial to another, live through the ages, as long aa the Filipino nation shall live. In • Speech delivel"ed at the annual Constitution Da1 dinner held at the Manila Hotel on the night of February '1, 1980 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the Constitution. thia quarter of a eentmj' of the life of the Conetltutlon we went through a world war, the cruelest that bas ever scourged mankind aiBC'e Cain dipped his hands in Abel's blood, and three :r-ra of a moat 'rieious enemy occupation, bUt the nation and its Constitu. tion have survived, and they shall survive, because Divine Pr.videnee, whose aid and guidance we Invoked In framing this historical instrument. will not deny our people Bia aaataining care. Our hope not only for national survival but for the realization of a great destiny for our people is rooted in the finn conviction that the free and ordered life of our nation depends upon the preservation of those ideals and injunctions proclaimed in the preamble and the declaration of principles of the Constitution: conserve and develop the national patrimony, promote the general welfare and insure the well-being and economic security of all the people, renounce war as an instrument of national policy, but Jnak. ing the defense of the state apinat aggreaalon the prime duty of all citizens, and aecun to thia generation and the sueeeedinc ones the blessings of independence under a regime of justice, liberty and ~ocraey, forever united in a common deatin11 under one , flag and one God. And yet our Constitution, or any omatitution for that matter. does not and cannot work miracles. lte lofty declaration of aima and principles, ita wise commands and injunctions, are not the "open sesame'' to all the promised treasures of a republican rectme nor a magic formula which can h., itself restore youth and vigor to a decrepit polity. It fa an instrument, noble, it la true, In ita origin and purpose, but a very human thing too, and it can only attain dyanamle validity h., popular eonaclousnesa faith and militancy. In an American magazine(') I read many years ago that the orignal document. eontaining the Dedaratian of Independence and ' the Constitution of the United States were transferred from the Lib1·ary of the United Stat.ea Concresa to the National Arehivea BuildinJ. The. editor of the mspsble, after reporting that a JDi.;. litary escort and military band had attended them, observed: 4'Bow uncomplicated it looked, this physical act of guarding our greatest tre&SDreal And how serene" - he continued - "life would be if the euenee of the doeumentl could be . .guarded ao easily, so p1-ecisely, and with sueh gay props as bagpipes and aueh exact ones as machine guns? Ah, liberty" - th8 magazine editor concluded - "you look so simple crossing town!" We are perhaps in a elearei• position. The war d .. troyed the original of the Constitution, and we are free from any confusion between the historic document it.self as a tiusured poueaslon and the infinitely more precious spirit which it once embodied. It ts only the spirit of the great charter over which we must stand gua1'd to pruerve it.a purity and integrity. Yet we may regard that apirit to be too simple a thing, just a matter of bureaucratic rodtine, adorned with good intentions and vehement protestations of loplty to the ideals of freedom. We may grow to believe that the Constitutiln will work on ua like graft!: fl'om heaYen, or like a guardian angel, benevolent and detached, leading us away from temptations of personal ninglory and unbridled love of power and riches. and delivering us from all the evils of misgovernment. And yet such is not the ease, for, when the people no longer agree on the neeessity of living under the Constitution both in good and in bad times, when they are ready to dtseard it for immediate material rewards or to e1oae their eyes to its violation for tem.poraey advantages, the Constitution eannot wOrk. These a1-e not idle apeculationa. Our faith in the Conatltv.( 1) TM New Yorker, Dec. 27, 1962. FebrQan 29, 1960 LAWYERS JOURNAL 86 tion hai' been repeatedly teated bJ' numeroua nenta durins the twentJ"..five years of ita life and often found wamine. Let us aak ourael'vea Certain. quutiona and answer them honeatly Jn tbe aanctuaey of our conaeieace. Are we ready to defend the freedom of speech of those with whom we dfa&Tee, of thOH Whose eoncEpta of aoe:lety and political authority we violentq detest! Are we ready ~ willilll' to teat the WlidiQ" Of our beliefs in 'the open market .of ideaaT ~re we dis~ and wtlliftir "t.o maint.&in th8 pUrity of suffrage even at j;be priCe of aft adTel'le popular ftrdici? Shall we keep faith with ~ eoDmtU.tioft even ~Ugh it may mean the sacrifice of our political f0riUnea o~ eConomic leeurity? Throughout the history of democracy men . have faced th"eae queations and haft aeldom giffD. clear and definite answeri. In the hi.te 1930'a ~e German people, in iheir millions, haunted. by fear of Communism; groaninl' ulider the weight of the Treaty Of Versailles, deaperatielY eager f0r aecurity, infinitely Weary Of deatttutlon and unemplOJ'IDent, caat aaidllii. the Weimar Conatitution and gave ablolute power to i. mad dictator, only to suffer the calami. tOµs con~uences of aueh an injudicious choice. Cari we, who be: lleve · ib democracy and in the advantacea of ou1· Constitution over any other form Ot government, take for granted that our people, tf put· to the same teat, ahall always believe what we ourselves now believe, or that we ourselves ahall always be true to our preSfllt eonvidions! In our country, democracy is still an educational proceu . .:We must train ourselves in its principles and practices; we must heh• • train all the people by ,precept and example; we must risk un. popularity and miaunderstandine to ahnw the people the distant goals,. the hidden dangers, the necesaity of temporary sacrifices if our democratic system ia to aurrive. And this obligation rests more particularly on those of us who had a hand in the framing of the Constitution or who are nsted with the powers of government it ha1 defined and provided. I ee aronnd me tonight old and beloved colleagues of the Con. stltutional Convention of 1934. I take it . that not only they but all .. the Filipinos in• this distinguished audienee are committed, by their very presence here, to the defenae of the Constitution. I should like to see all of us unite in the common effort of making our people deeply conscious that the Constitution must be obeyed by . and enforced upon both rulers and governed, and that it.a ultimate and permanen* adnntaps will far outweigh any temporary discomforts and privations :we mar suffer in obeying and enforcing it. Only thus ean we make certain that the Conatitution shall -« endure, and wi"!:h it the system of government and waJ. of life whicfu. it was it.a purpose to eatablilh, guarantee and presene. The plebi1cite of 1986 that .stamped it.a approval on the peat iustJ:ument which . the. Conatitutional Convention adopted aa the auPreme l&w oi. · the land. did Dot adjudicate the queatlon for all ttm8. It was not a final judgment. In a democracy aueh aa oU.ra th8re is a permanent 0plebiacit8 in which we east our vote~ for Or against the Const~tution ~Ing aa w8 &ci Or fall to aet. For, let Ui not forg8t, tb id~la ·of. d~acY. the ipirlt of the Constitution, ~t only may be uprOoted or felled by direct assBUlt, but theY e&n also Wi.thei- through dis.use or abandonment. Inasmuch aS in the. CoU:rse of oUr national existence we are bound to face, oftener than not, the temptations of expediency and ~er :l'rultration and the fears that ripen into despair, the faith.of our peOple in t"tie Constitution must be eonatantly kept militant, vigol-oul And at.8adfast: · · I d~ nOt mean tO Underestini&.te th.e wisdom ~nd ~turity of our people when I 1ay that th,e gospel. of deiitoCr8cf ·must be conS.: iantly preached tO theni ~ When even ·lawyer& ca~not agrff on what ~e Constitution Mys, it is folly ~ expect the lay mind to pereeiVe fully the implications' and effects of any eneroi.chment Upon its dominiOn& When ancient &nd cultured peoplea ·~ve de&· paired of the efficacy of ~Oci-ati~ Pr«ea• in "times o:f"uph~val; we ~an hardly ~pect ~r Jieople tO thaiii.iaiiii'an .inwaVering faith in the Constitution under,.'l~verae ei~-cu~~\Ces~ ~Ji1e~-,-iii".lhi8 formative period of our Republle, they are thoroughly acquainted with its prineiplel and eonatantlJ' dildpltned in habitual loyalty to them. Tbeir doubt& and difficulties muat, therefore, be aquarelJ' met and reaolved aa soon and aa often as they arise, and the dangen of hasty and opportunistic dedatons fearleuly and promptly ezpoaed. Thoae who can now loot beyond present fears and desires must share their foreboding& with the people, not in a spirit of vain· g~l'f, or presumptuousness, oi: of defeatism, but simply in the conaeiousnesa of a common fate. For all of us. reeardle1a of party, regardlftl of ideology or eondition, must suffer equally from the debasement. of the Constitution and the resulting impairment of democraey, Isolated in· fractions, if left uncorrected, may in time become a chronic oon· dition , If the Constitution ia allo1f8Cl to be violated in one provi. aion, it will be easily violated in another provision. If the Cons. iitUt.ion ia suspended as to one group of citiaens, it can be aus· pended as to another group of citizens. If one departmeat of the government can invade and usurp the powen of another, so ean it invade and usurp the totality of power. And if, aa a reault, the Con~tution falls, all. of ua shall fall. with it, the learned and the untutored, the foresighted and the im· prorident, the courageous and the hesitant, the wealthy and the poor, the lovers of libertY aud its enemies and detractor•. None of us can be sure that he will have no need of the Con1titutlon; it behooves us all, therefore, to protect and preserve it for an mt day. The ffl'Y persona who ·now defy the Const.itution or allow it to be subverted or undermined. without proteat, may themselves ery out for its protection tomorrow, and bewail the loss of the guarantees that they themselves destroyed or denied to their enemies. Then indeed may they weep like Boabdil, the last lloorilh king of Granada, who, paualne in his flight at a bridge for one last look at his beloved city, wept for his lost dominions, only to be .bitterly reproached by his mother in theae unforgebable words: "'Weep like a woman over the kingdom you c:wld not tt. fend like a man.". , It is true that upon our judges ruts the responsibility Of , intet"Pretill&' and appl.yinc the Constitution, finding ita trua spirit. in and between the faltering Iang;uap of its human aut.hora. But the Constitution ill, alter all, a political law and democracy a political ayatem, and it is inevitable that both the Consti: tutlon and democracy should be the· special coftcern of the two poIitieal departments of the eovernment. They it Ii ·that are called upon to lead in the preservation of the.system of government· we have rightly chosen, by showing in words aDd deeds that it can succeed, and succeed more fully than any "Other System, in anj conceivable situation for any legitimate objective. The Conl'l'US baa convened in regular session a few days ago in the usual atmosphere of po~itieal i~tril'ues, selfishneas, and lust for power. Before the 10Cktay pll!Jriod ends we ~l, I am sure, witness bitter and protl,'acted political battles bet~ Congress and the Presi.Clent, ))e:tween _the two houses Of Congress and between the memben of . each Hou1e n:ot only among those professing di7 vel'le party 1ova1t1es bUt even amonc those under the same politicai hi.nner. · ' I I.~ not one to deery iucli eonflieta when they arise from honest differences of opinicm and for altruistic: motives. It is good lVitliiii limits, that ·v.-e ·about~ diaa~. There ~ lesa chanc~ tha~ Cb9 peOpie Will be robbed atid iwindled of their rights Whi!n their aPn~ aiid ti:,iiitee:I "are ~~tually jeal~s~ an~· !1ailani:, S~;h emi: flieta and differencea are pa~ of a democratic s7stem; only tyran. ny ean 1m·Poae. ai:i ai-t:ifieial unahimity of thought an.d aCtl_on, the unanimity in a. gia-ffJrard. Polities,. by_ it.a very nat~re, is COD-: fliCt, and contli_et for poWer is tht! in.oat unrelentinl' Of all confllctl. When tlie bai~nce of power, wb~ ~s _the soul of dem0cracy~ ~h:-i;::.;e:e a°::W-C:!.18 j::ni!~a~:.: =~;!:' with the power of confirmation, the power of legislation with the pO~ of e~forceml!Jlt_. the p.,~ . to ~e~l~re . .a p~licY With t~e. ~ Wer to carry it out, the. powe;r to. r~;.se inoney with t~e pc;nrer .to: disburse it, eonspire in the interest of total power by one man or 96 LAWYERS JOURNAL Febru8i-, ·29, 1e8o DISCREPANCY BETWEEN FIGURES AND WORDS IN ELECTION RETURNS By LEON L. ASA Memluw, Pkilippb&e BM An interesting queatlon of first impression was recently raised before the Supreme Court in the election· case "Manuel Abad Santos, petitioner, va. Judge A.rsento · Santos, of the Court of First l'natam:e -'Of Pampanp, ·md .Ba:fnl S. del. RGlario, respondent&". G.R. No. I..16876. The question was: when the number of votes received by a candidate written in figure& is different from that written in words, may the interested party aak for judicial reeounting of ~ under Section 163 in relation with Section 168 of the Revfaed Election Code? The facts of the case are briefly summarized aa follows: In the election.· held last November. 10, 19&9, for the office of· Municipal Mayor of Angeles, Pampanga, upon completion of the canvass made by the Municipal Board of Canvasser• of 1aid muntc:ipalitJ, Manuel Abad Santos obtained 6,618 votea while hie rival candid&~ Rafael S. del Rosario obtained 6,617 votes or a pluralitJr 9f only vote in favor of Abad Santos. Immediately, del Rosario filed with the Court of First Inetance of Pampanp a petition for a judicial ~ counting of the votes cut in Precinct Noa. ' and 4-A for the of. fice of Munieipal Ma:ror of Angeles, Pampanga, alleging iha.t there was a eonfllet In the election returne between the number of votes written in lett'1'• and the number of votes writt.en in fi. gures received by him. In Precinct No. 4, it appears in the four eopies of the election returns that del Rosario reeeived "one hundred five" votes written in worda and 11146" written in figures, while in Precinct No. 4-A, it appears that he received "one hundred. and nine" votes written in words and 11169" writtien in figures. one group, then democracy is in peril of its life. N~ matter wh_,. the Constitution may say, such a concentra.. tion of power can' exert well-nigh irresistible pressure on the courts, undermine the righta of the people through repeated en. croachmenta. or wipe them out- In one bold sweep against which effective redress shall no longer be found within the framework of the Constitution . And who shall rise to defend and protect the individual's bill of right.a, who shall rise to fight for the supremacy of the Constitution, and how can those who would do so upect the aupport of the majority of the people when the people, by then, shall have becon\e impassive to the repeated violations ana desecrations of the Constitution? Let us then congratulate ourselves that we still have the inclination and the ability to disagree to upose errors and misdeeds wherever they a.re found, and to detect and resist &DJ' conspiracy to unite and seize political power, and in the end, to call upon the people to restore the balance. I am l"eminded of a charaeter in Bernard Shaw's play, The Devirs Disciple. A woman reputed to be religious finds her faith shaken when she sees her enemies, whom she considers sinful, succeeding and prospering while she fails, and she upbraids the minister of the 'gospel with a heart full of regrets for her virture. "Why should we do our duty and keep God's law" she remonstrates, "if there ts to be no difference made between us and those who follow their own likingg and disliking& and make a jest of us and of their Maker's word?" I wonder if there are some of ua who, like that embittered old woman, believe that we should keep the Constitution and love de· mocracy only in the e:r.peetation of material rewards. Can our faith surmount the trial of suffering and resist the temptations of prompt relief In times of distress or ignore the lure of expe· dieney for the attainment of political ends? What if we were facinc a real national emergenq? Could The lower eourt granted the. petition of de1 Roari.o for a judicial recounting of the votes cast In said two precincts. Abad Santos tPen filed with the Supreme Court a petition for Prohibition with Preliminal'J' Injunction. The main argument of his lawyer is the following: "The mere diacrepanc:v between tbe words and the fieures in the election return as to the number of votes that a candidate has received is not the discrepalleJ' coa.templated in Section 168 in relation to Section 168 of the Revised Election Code. It is the discrep&DCJ' in the statementa - which stves to a cudidate a different number of votes and the differenee affecta the result of Ute eleetion. The • le&'lalature could DOt have intended that mere discrepancy between the words and the figures lhopld cause the reeountinc of the votes to determine the true result of the election, because it could not have ignored the rule of universal application that where the conflict is between words· and :figurea, .the words will be given ef. feet (82 C.J .S. '1211). · The general rule of construction la coneeded that, where there la a conflict between words and fipres, the former prevails; and this concession Is in accord with the text-books and decision. Wcwdet- "· Millard, 8 lAa.. 681-688; .Pavne v. C1Mk, 19 Mo. 162. Where a differenee appears between the words and fi. aures, eridence cannot be received to explain It; bnt the words in the bocb' of the paper must control; and if there Is (Con.tinaecl on •ed page) we be aure that the majority of our people would not follow the aad examples of desperate and ansry nations In the annals of • the democratic experiment, and that they will not discard the Constitution to gain a delusive salvation? Perhaps W'l believe in the Constitution only because it ts the thing to do, because we have learned it.a provisiona by rote in school like arithmetic and apelling and the Lord's Prayer, and not because we 11incerely and eonsciouslJ' belt8ve it to be the best and aurest ruai-anty of our chosen wQ" of life. The Constitution, through which all good things in our democracy have come into beine, and without which the7 could not have come to be, is the light of our nation, but this light cannot illumine those who neithttr understand. it nor love it, because men of little faith, Pharisees and money-changen, generations of vipers, in the angry words of the Lord, have hidden it under the bushel of their hypoeris:r and greed. Let us then bear witness to the Constitution, so that, in the la11A"11age of the gospels, all the people may learn to believe. If our nation ia to survive and attain greatness in freedom the Con· stitution must live in our .actions, both as individuals and as a people, in the enlightened conviction and steadfast belief that only in the spirit of the Constitution, infused in us, shall democracy abide with us and our nation forever enjoy the blessings of independence under a regime of justice and liberty, and fulfill its deatillJ' within the Lord's Kingdom. Neither in the toils of the day nor in the vigils of the night can the sentinels of the Constitution relax their vigilance. Let us all be wary and stand by our arms, leat, b:r culpable tolerance or by criminal negligence, our countey should in some forbidding future become a desolate Carthage wherein only the naked ruins of our republic shall remain, fallen monuments of the past in whose debris our deaeendanta, bJ' then th8 forlorn bondsmen of some corrupt deapot, ahall in vain endeavor to cleC1'"pher the Ian. guage of the Constitution, Inscribed, as in ,forptten hieroglJphs, on the sarcophagas of oar dead. freedoms. February 29, 1960 LAWYERS JOURNAL