SolGen: No guarantee con-con won't touch Constitution's political provisions

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 22) - There's no guarantee a constitutional convention won't touch the political provisions of the 1987 Constitution, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said on Wednesday.

"No, there are no particular safeguards," Guevarra told CNN Philippines' The Source.

He explained that delegates who will be elected by the public will not be limited because the "convention is a sovereign act of the Filipino people."

"That means anything they want to review, anything they want to amend, anything they want to revise they can do so because their authority emanates directly from the people, not from the Congress," Guevarra said.

Voting 301 to 7, the House of Representatives on March 14 approved on third and final reading the bill that will implement the constitutional convention that will amend the charter.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez said they are rushing to amend the Constitution because of the need to improve the country's economy - and not for political reasons.

Gueverra, however, said he does not see the urgent need for charter change.

"If you are going to ask me in my personal capacity as a lawyer, I really don't see any urgency on the matter of amending or revising the Constitution because many of the things that we'd like to change, especially on the economic provisions of the Constitution can be done through legislation," he pointed out.

President Ferdinand Marcos himself has said charter change is not a priority of his administration.

Several senators are also not keen on amending the Constitution at this time.