Ano ba ang Cha-cha? (What is Cha-cha?)

“Cha-cha” in the Philippines does not pertain to Cha-cha-cha of a Latin American dance of Cuban origin, but instead it refers to the political and other related processes involved in amending or revising the current 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. It is also known as the Philippine Charter Change.

According to Justice Isagani Cruz, “the Constitution is the basic and paramount law to which all other laws must conform and to which all persons, including the highest officials of the land must defer. All must bow to the mandate of this law.” (sounds like the Holy Bible huh?) Thus, we Filipino people must take diligence in the amendment and revision of this supreme law. In doing so, we must see to it, that it shall seek the benefit of every Filipino and shall promote the general welfare of the nation and not just being politically inclined or motivated.

In a legal sense, Amendment bears a different meaning from Revision. Amendment in legislation means an alteration or change of a particular provision of law. Whereas, Revision is the overhauling or rewriting of the entire instrument or law. For which reason, the modes enunciated by Article XVII of the 1987 Constitution for the Amendment of the constitution per se is reasonably different from Revision.

Step 1. PROPOSAL:

AMENDMENT

There are three (3) modes of amending the Constitution. It may be proposed by:

1. the Congress

• the Senate and House of Representatives, upon a vote of three-fourths (¾) of all its members voting separately.

House of Representatives = ¾ of all its members

Senate = ¾ of all its members

Therefore, the Congressmen or the members of the House of Representatives, even though the required ¾ vote had been met, cannot propose the amendment of the Constitution without the concurrence of a vote of three-fourths (¾) of all the members of the Senate.

2. a Constitutional Convention

• e.g. Constituent Assembly, Constitutional Convention

3. the People’s Initiative

• Provided however, that the petitioner must be at least twelve per centum (12%) of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least three per centum (3%) of the registered voters therein.

REVISION

The 1987 Constitution specifically provides only two (2) modes of revising the Constitution:

1. the Congress

· the Senate and House of Representatives, upon a vote of three-fourths (¾) of all its members voting separately.

2. a Constitutional Convention

Step 2. RATIFICATION:

However, Amendment or Revision shall be valid only when ratified by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite or referendum (sec. 4, Article XVII of the 1987 Constitution). It is simply means that the proposed amendment/s or revision/s has to be approved by the majority of Filipinos in order to be adopted.