UMALOHOKAN
Revolutionary Government
DUMAGUETE CITY – What is a Revolutionary Government? Can Duterte declare a Revolutionary Government? Definitely NOT. He can but doing so will be illegal.
How can Duterte declare a Revolutionary Government when he is the President of the present government? That would indeed be contradictory. You cannot revolt against government when you are the current powers that be. Doing so would be paradoxical and downright absurd.
A revolutionary government means that it is a government established by extra constitutional means by way of actual revolution, an overthrow, or repudiation just like the People Power Revolution. After the EDSA Revolution where the Marcos dictatorial regime was toppled, there was a revolutionary government headed by Cory Aquino.
Interestingly, on both occasions where Duterte expressed his idea for a revolutionary government, he cited the precedent set by the late President Aquino as the supposed quickest route to democracy.
Soon after being the figurehead of the People Power uprising in 1986 that toppled the Marcos regime, President Aquino issued a proclamation implementing reforms in the government including the adoption of a provisional charter as she junked the 1973 constitution.
Aquino also shut down Congress and axed all elected officials but ensured an “orderly transition” to a government under a new constitution that established checkpoints limiting future presidents from imposing martial law with the same ease as Marcos did.
Among Aquino’s justifications for doing so was that “the new government was installed through a direct exercise of the power of the Filipino people assisted by units of the New Armed Forces of the Philippines” and that this “heroic action of the people was done in defiance of the provisions of the 1973 Constitution.” Her revolutionary government ended when a new constitution was approved and a new Congress was elected in 1987.
To prevent a repeat of a dictatorship, the 1987 Constitution limits presidents to single six-year term. Despite drawing jeers from his critics, Duterte early this week said that his threat to set up a revolutionary government was not intended to prolong his stay in power because he was not happy being president.
Once the revolution government is established, Duterte said, he would order the security forces to arrest all destabilizers and go on full scale war against communist rebels.
“I will clear the streets and I will declare all government positions vacant.” This is history repeating itself, unless the people will oppose it. After all, sovereignty resides in the people and all governmental authority emanates from them.
In the ultimate analysis, it is the people that should be vigilant of their rights otherwise they will lose them.
When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?
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