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By Sen. Manny Villar
Conclusion
[Excerpts from the speech given
by Senate President Manny Villar at the Philippine Military Academy
alumni homecoming, Fort del Pilar, Loakan, Baguio City, on February
17.]
The Senate whose members are
elected at large is more focused on national concerns.
Ever since its creation, the
Senate has always been the watchdog of the performance of the
executive branch. In the Senate, party lines are crossed when the
issues at hand is a matter of national interest.
Unfortunately, there are those
who are not comfortable with the independence of the Senate. Our
determination to expose what we honestly perceive as anomalies in
governance is construed as the work of an obstructionist. But if the
Senate remains silent for the sake of pakikisama, it shall be remiss
in its duty to the nation. If the Senate takes the path of political
accommodation even as the people expect it to be vigilant always in
pursuit of the truth, then it abdicates its balancing role.
Hence, it was not surprising at
all for some quarters to seek the abolition of the Senate under the
guise of a shift to a unicameral-parliamentary system by way of the
so-called people’s initiative to amend the Constitution.
I am not against amending the
Constitution. But the process of Charter change must strictly follow
what the Constitution provides. There should be no short cuts. The
whole process be transparent and above board. This was the substance
of our argument when we questioned the constitutionality of the
spurious people’s initiative before the Supreme Court.
In an act of judicial
statesmanship, the highest court of the land sustained the stand of
the Senate.
To ignore the Constitution or to
trivialize any of its provisions is to weaken it. When we take
liberty with the sanctity of our fundamental law, we undermine the
very foundation of our republican democracy.
It is this allegiance to the
Constitution and the affirmation of its inviolability that define
the reason for being of the whole government, its branches and
instrumentalities. Thus, both the Congress and the Armed Forces of
the Philippines exist only as instruments of the nation in the
service of the people. In a real sense, the soldier and the lawmaker
in their own respective ways are the people’s servants. And
because ultimate sovereignty resides in the people, the Filipino
people are our true masters.
Let me conclude with the words of
the foremost constitutionalist the late Sen. Claro M. Recto.
“We are the Constitution in the
sense that it can live only in us, through us, for us, and because
of us. The best amendment to the Constitution would be the amendment
of our own lives, the amendment of our attitudes, outlook, and
actions, the realization that we are free men, and the resolution to
live and act as free men.”
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