Con-com denies releasing copy of proposed federal charter

President Rodrigo Duterte's Consultative Committee (Con-com), which recently approved a proposal for a federal constitution, has shot down the authenticity of  supposed drafts circulating online in the absence of a publicly released copy.

Con-com spokesman Ding Generoso on Wednesday denied that a purported June 27 version of the draft, which has been making the rounds on social media, was the official copy of the panel's proposed provisions.

The document was a PDF file, 82-pages long, and uploaded to Google Drive.

"We haven't posted any document," Generoso told reporters. He earlier said and maintained the Con-com will publicly release the full text of its work after the document is submitted to Duterte on or before July 9.

In a statement released hours later, Generoso also addressed a supposed June 30 version, and called it and the June 27 copy "working files" containing the consolidated articles that still had to be revised during the Con-com's sessions.

Con-com members still suggested corrections up until the morning before the July 3 voting, he said. It was this voting that saw the approval of what was touted as the "final" draft.

He said the draft for submission to the President, approved by all 22 Con-com members on Tuesday, was still being ironed out for grammar, style, redundancies, and "possible conflicts with other sections," among others.

Calls have been made on social media for the release of the full text of the Con-com's proposed draft.

The approved draft includes "reforms" on the political system, such as a prohibition on political dynasties and on party switching, a promise of an "indissoluble" nation that disallows secession, and a guarantee against the feared term extension for Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo.

But the draft will be out of its framers' hands and in Duterte's next week, and is expected to be endorsed to Congress, which could retain or change the Con-com's proposals.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte will encourage his allies in Congress to study the Con-com's upcoming submission and pattern their own proposals after the panel's recommendations. — MDM/RSJ, GMA News