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NEW MOVEMENT FOR SYSTEMS CHANGE
The man who helped draft the Freedom Constitution of the revolutionary government of President Corazon Aquino in February 1986 has agreed to become the face of charter change, if only for the people, especially the lawmakers, “ to see the value of rewriting the constitution.”
Puno will lead a soft launching of a new movement named “Bagong Sistema, Bagong Pagasa: An Advocacy for System Change” in the next few weeks, where he would call on the President to form a constitutional convention to study changes in the Constitution simultaneous with the 2016 elections. A formal launch is set on or before President Benigno Aquino III delivers his last State of the Nation Address in July.
Why convention? “Because we can't trust Congress to do it well enough for they are for (the preservation of) the status quo.”
The timing of the convention, he said, will dispel suspicions that the constitutional amendments were meant to grant the President an extension of his term. “With the term issue set aside, then we would know what we want to change,” he said, adding that he would seek neither an elective office, nor a seat in the proposed convention come 2016. “If asked, I would be willing to serve as a consultant to help guide the body,” he said.
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