MANILA — First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos is among the newest members of the Philippine Constitution Association (PHILCONSA), a non-stock, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending, preserving, and protecting the Constitution.

Marcos, along with former Chief Justice Teresita De Castro and Atty. Michelle Lazaro, took their oath before PHILCONSA Chairman, former Chief Justice Renato Puno in a ceremony in Malacañang marking the 63rd founding anniversary of the organization dedicated to defending, preserving, and protecting the Constitution.

In his speech, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. underscored the vital role of PHILCONSA in preserving and protecting democracy in the country. 

“PHILCONSA’s role as the “people’s conscience”— in the words of Dr. Salvador Araneta—was vital in propagating and preserving it from insidious interests. It was a bold task that only those who understood the Constitution as a living, breathing embodiment of who we are as Filipinos could fulfill,” Marcos Jr said in his speech.

“In the past sixty-three years, the PHILCONSA has remained the steadfast, vigilant, and uncompromising guardians of our democracy and of our nation.”

In his speech, the President also cited the crucial importance of the Philippine Constitution, which establishes the structure of government, determines the rights of the people, and protects them from abuse.

“It promotes our fundamental right to life, liberty, and property.  It ensures our right to due process and equal protection, our freedom of speech and religion, our right to privacy, amongst others,” Marcos Jr. said.

“With the three branches of the government, upholding the principle of separation of powers is the key to guarantee that our system of checks and balances remains strong and stable. It prevents abuse of power, promotes citizen’s rights, and ensures accountability amongst the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary,” he added.

The President said however that there is much left to be done, noting “that many of the laws that fully bring life to our Constitution remain unpassed, and our efforts to fully empower our people and deepen our democracy still fall short of what the framers envisioned.”

“It is high time that we take decisive action. The Bagong Pilipinas calls upon all the branches of the government to rise to this challenge,” Marcos Jr. said.

“So, as we celebrate today’s milestone, let us commit ourselves to the unfinished work of democracy. Let us breathe life into the principles enshrined in our Constitution,” he said. 

“Let us create a nation where the rule of law reigns supreme, where justice is not selective, and where every Filipino enjoys the freedoms, the rights, and the dignity that they are entitled to.”

Founded on September 26, 1961, PHILCONSA is a 130-member non-stock and non-profit civic organization of legal luminaries, business, and socio-civic leaders. 

According to Malacañang, the “organization has vowed to defend and preserve the Constitution and engender awareness and stimulate public interest on the basic law by propagating and promoting its importance and relevance through a continuing nationwide information and educational campaign.”