ALL efforts to amend or revise the 1987 Constitution should be governed by one primordial principle: Keep the proposed Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) as non-partisan and as independent as possible.

President Duterte is for a federal government. So are most of the proponents of amending the Charter. However, directing the incoming Con-Con delegates to confine their deliberations to the shift from unitary to federal form of government demeans their work and the Con-Con’s plenary powers. Even if the Con-Con will ultimately decide on the shift, it should be made known that this is their own decision and is not imposed on them.