Charter change push seen as threat to judicial independence

By Adrian H. Halili, Reporter

CHARTER CHANGE could weaken the Supreme Court (SC) by concentrating power to Congress and the Executive, analysts warned, following Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III’s proposed amendments in response to the High Court’s ruling on Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment case.

Anthony Lawrence A. Borja, an associate political science professor at De La Salle University in Manila, said that Charter change could risk weakening the High Court and concentrating power in the Legislative and Executive branches.

“It ultimately depends on how constitutional change would re-assert the separation of powers between concerned branches,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Mr. Borja added that the ruling had exposed the High Court to current political power struggles surrounding constitutional amendments “instead of staying out of the fray.”

Last week, the Senate chief said that he is pushing for Charter change after the Supreme Court affirmed with finality its July 2025 decision to block the impeachment of Ms. Duterte.

The Vice-President had been charged with fund misuse, unexplained wealth, destabilization efforts, and plotting to assassinate the President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., his wife and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez. She has denied any wrongdoing.

Mr. Sotto said that the ruling effectively amended the Constitution “unconstitutionally” through judicial overreach and left Congress with little choice but to pursue amendments.

Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, said that the push for Charter reforms based on the High Court’s ruling was a “shortsighted basis for justification.”

“If the agenda is just patching perceived procedural problems and not an overall review of the Constitution, this cannot inspire confidence in the public,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “It still smacks of partisan score settling unbefitting of the Constitution’s overall structure.”

Jose Enrique A. Africa, executive director of think tank IBON Foundation, said that the recent ruling had made it harder to hold officials accountable.

“The SC’s ruling has the practical effect of bolstering impunity by making impeachment more difficult given how the House is so subject to partisanship and patronage,” Mr. Africa said in a Messenger chat.

“It is precisely that partisanship and patronage that will be so influential in a Charter change process, rather than an impulse for democratic reforms,” he added.

Mr. Africa said that officials will likely move to shield themselves from accountability more than improve the Constitution to enhance it.

“The push for Charter change is coming from political and economic elites out to roll back progressive economic, political and human rights provisions, rather than from social movements for reform,” he added.

Mr. Africa said that Charter change that weakens policy leverage for industrialization and development will set back real economic reforms.

Since the 1980s, nearly every administration has grappled with the contentious issue of constitutional change, attempting — unsuccessfully — to alter portions of the 38-year-old Constitution.

Lawmakers have been pushing to alter portions of the Charter, yet such initiatives have consistently stalled, lacking both public backing and Senate approval amid suspicions of political agendas.