Chief presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile proposed to scrap the current 1987 Constitution and return the 1935 Constitution.
During the Senate hearing of the committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes on Wednesday, Sept. 21, Enrile said the problem with the current constitution is that it made the provisions under the 1935 and 1973 Constitutions complicated.
“Para sa akin, ang pinaka-magandang naging saligang batas ng Pilipinas ay ‘yung 1935 Constitution," he claimed.
Enrile said this constitution is “short, brief, simple, and easy to understand."
“Kung tanungin niyo ako kung ano ang gagawin natin, marami. Una, ang aking mungkahi, go back. That is my preference, I’m not binding anybody. Go back to the 1935 Constitution, or at the very least, if we want to change it immediately, go to the 1973 Constitution,” he said.
The former senate president also suggested doubling the number of senators from 24 to 48 due to the country's population is increasing.
Enrile said when the 1935 Constitution was adopted, there were only 12 million Filipinos but today, there are more than 100 million people.
“That 48, 16 [Senators] will go out every two years to be elected by the people so that new, fresh, and modernized mind will enter the system to contribute to the intellectual capability or academic capability of the remaining members,” he said.
According to Enrile, the 1935 Constitution had already established 24 Senators, but the 1987 Constitution changed it by declaring that only one-half would be elected every six years.
“Delikado ‘yan, they did not understand why under the 1935 Constitution, the wise men of the Philippines ginawa nilang 24. But every two years, exposed to the mandate of the people, eight of these 24 people and the 16 will remain standing at all times as embedded in the Constitution. They did not understand that,” he said.
Enrile said the purpose of changing eight Senators every two years was to ensure that “two-thirds of the senators must be in place at a given time without interregnum.”
“So that in case of danger, war, invasion, or rebellion like what happened to us or any kind of emergency, epidemic, pandemic, there must always be 16 senators that can be relied upon to maintain the government of the Republic of the Philippines not for their sake but for the sake of the Filipino people, for their safety and security,” he added.
