In a society driven by a lot of political plagues, the amendment of the constitution throughout the years

is quite inevitable. Our constitution is not a perfect document in its entirety. It has several loopholes
here and there that needs to be criticized in order to suit the changing needs of the Filipino people.
Though it is easy for our government to enact laws and orders for our constitution, it is a challenge to
make that constitution work.

Almost all of the presidents, starting from Cory Aquino and up until to Duterte, their efforts towards a
charter change is deemed ineffective. These numerous attempts to amend the 1987 Constitution proves
that our government is stuck in a vicious cycle of inefficiency. The only coping mechanism in order to
keep our government from falling on the ground is to provide alterations and revisions to our
constitution throughout the years that have passed. The administrations in the past used charter change
as a tool to alleviate the prevalence of poverty, economic problems, and political issues in our country.
However, this only provided a short-term ease for our government and it significantly provided a long-
term problem for us.

With the constant request of amendment for our constitution, the people have developed some sort of
doubt and skepticism among the public officials from our government. The people now have a sense of
distrust towards the efforts of our government when it comes to changing something quite as big like
our constitution. This is rooted from the notion that government officials are only proposing a
constitutional change just because they want to extend their term limits. They are somewhat using it as
an advantage for their own political interest or motive. As a result, some politicians who dared to sit in
public office have not earned the approbation of some Filipino people.

Under a unitary form of government, President Duterte is proposing federalism for our country. This is
one of his plans under a constitutional change. He believes that federalism will be the key in solving the
country’s issues such as poverty, corruption, and other economical problems. However, the downside of
this proposition is that it will likely give people in the public office the opportunity to use their power as
a tool for their own advantage and it will also provide uneven distribution of benefits for the Filipino
people. On the other hand, a unitary government also has problems just like a federal one. A unitary
system is unfair because it doesn’t consider the situation of several minority places in our country. It
makes decisions based on a larger scope without acknowledging that a certain rule doesn’t apply to
everyone. As a result, it pushes our country even more in a continuous cycle of injustice and poverty.

The constitution is considered as the foundation of our rights as a citizen. Along with the lines of the
1987 Philippine Constitution, which is “the sovereign Filipino people”, it is our duty to exercise this
power and to make sure that we can voice out our opinion in this democratic country. The success of
our constitution doesn’t only rely on laws which are enacted, it also greatly depends on the ability of our
leaders to make the right decisions and choose what’s best for our people. There should be a great
amount of unity and understanding between the government and its people in order to acquire change
for all of the lives of the Filipinos. In a perfect society, that change will symbolize hope for this country.