Don’t think ‘Charter change,’ just think ‘change’

(Author’s note: This column is based on a much longer, similarly titled essay first published in November 2010)

The topic of Charter change has found its way back onto the public radar in the wake of this month’s midterm elections, and it is worth taking a step back and taking a broad look at the issue. There are, at the moment, three different perspectives on Charter change. The first, and whether anyone likes it or not, currently most operative of these perspectives is the one held by President Benigno Aquino 3rd, which is to do nothing to alter the Constitution, and instead focus on improving and enhancing existing institutional systems.