Can RevGov still be done with the effectivity of the 1987 Constitution? Absolutely. All it takes is a proclamation by the President that the government shall be reorganized.

Let’s accept it. Major attempts to change the system of government have failed so far in the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, who was elected based on the platform of “change.” The platform of “Change is Coming” and Federalism propelled a simple mayor from Mindanao to the presidency. Although “change” had indeed occurred, and the numbers will indeed prove this.

Business is thriving, there are more jobs for Filipinos, tourist arrivals met record highs, and poverty has significantly lessened in the country. President Duterte has been doing the best he can, given the legal and political limitations imposed on him with the current government setup. But what if these so-called limitations can be removed?

In the December 2019 survey of Pulse Asia, conducted amid the Southeast Asia (SEA) Games hosting of the Philippines, the trust rating of President Duterte surged to 83 percent, jumping eight points from the 75 percent garnered in the previous September 2019 survey. His approval rating likewise surged by nine points, from 78 percent to a whopping 87 percent. Similar increases were realized by Vice President Leni Robredo, Senate President Tito Sotto and House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano. These are enough indicia that the administration has been riding on a wave of positivity despite the repeated criticisms of naysayers.

What is interesting about this bit of information is that House Speaker Cayetano had the biggest surge in trust and approval. His trust rating increased by 14 points, from 62 percent to 76 percent while his approval rating by 16 points, from 64 percent to 80 percent. As the leader of around 300 congressmen, we can safely assume that these figures are shared by his colleagues. However, when word came out that the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments approved the resolutions for the amendment of the 1987 Constitution, reportedly behind closed doors, the public outcry against the House reflected nothing about the high ratings of the Speaker. Thus, one may argue that the Speaker’s numbers are mainly attributed from his contributions as chairman of the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee.

To shed light on the renewed push for constitutional change, chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, faced the media to explain the four constitutional amendments to be prioritized, namely its economic provisions, the tandem election of the president and vice president, extension of term of congressmen from three to five years, and the shortening of the term of senators (who will be elected from nine regions) from six to five years.

Among the four, the last is most controversial, which expectedly led to senators to declare this proposal to be dead in the water. Common sense tells us that shortening the senators’ terms is political suicide for this bill. Rep. Rodriguez said, in an interview, that he will call for plenary discussions of his committee’s proposals next year, which will be a useless exercise given the prejudgment by the Senate.

The fact is, the people trust President Duterte to revise the Constitution, not Congress. If the President wants to see his promise to change the system of government towards Federalism, the only way is for him to take the cudgels himself, the same way he has taken on the drug war and the oligarchs. A review on the performance of this administration will prove that President Duterte is most efficient when he is calling all the shots with no regard of any other politician and their selfish interests.

Last Saturday, 21 December, supporters of President Duterte in Manila and Cebu came together to call on the President to declare a revolutionary government — an act that finds no basis in the 1987 Constitution, but has already been done twice in the history of the Philippines. The first was post-Spanish rule in 1898, led by Emilio Aguinaldo, and second was post-Marcos in 1986, upon the signing of Proclamation 3 by Corazon Aquino.

Can RevGov still be done with the effectivity of the 1987 Constitution? Absolutely. All it takes is a proclamation by the President that the government shall be reorganized, the Constitution to be reviewed, and that a new system of government shall be built to meet the needs of the Filipino people. Notably, in Aquino’s Proclamation 3, which contained the provisional constitution adopting certain provisions of the 1973 Constitution for the crafting of what became the 1987 Constitution, was signed by the President herself alone.

RevGov is the only way the President can make Federalism possible to make true his promise of Federalism to the country. This is a better alternative than having another ruckus of an election in 2022, where the frontrunners seem to be Duterte-Duterte yet again, with the President stepping down as vice president, being constitutionally prohibited from running for a second term, to her daughter, Mayor Inday Sara Duterte. So, with the outstanding performance of the President who enjoys the utmost trust of the people, we daresay ask: Who’s afraid of RevGov?