INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

By Jorge D. Lomboy



As a prelude, let me take you through a guided tour of the constitutions of our homeland, our domicile of origin.  First we have the 1899 Constitution, known as the Malolos Constitution.  Then we have the 1935 Constitution of the commonwealth period.  Then we have the 1973 martial law Constitution followed the by the 1986 provisional Constitution. And now we have the Constitution of 1987 which was drafted by a constitutional commission of 47 members chaired by the late Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma.  

A constitution is a written instrument embodying the rules of a political or social organization.  The all-embracing 1987 Constitution is more of a statute rather than a constitution for it shows statutory language and not constitutional language which is broad, brief and definite.  As an overview, all of our constitutions are stuffed with a wish list.

Article XVIII, Section 27 of the 1987 Constitution expressly provides that upon ratification by a majority of votes cast in a plebiscite, the 1987 Constitution shall take effect immediately and shall supersede all previous constitutions.  Except for the 1986 provisional constitution, all our constitutions contain a preamble.  The words “…promote the general welfare” are embodied in all constitutions including the current 1987 Constitution.  The number of constitutions we have clearly shows that the fundamental law is resilient and is not designed to resolve future issues and future contingencies.  As such, a constitutional crisis arises from time to time due to political instability which does not attract long-term foreign investments.  When rights are unstable there is uncertainty which is not good for business and not good for the economy.  No investor in his right mind will invest millions in a country when his investments rest on shaky ground.

One wish is state policy under Article II, Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution for the state to recognize the vital role of the youth in nation building, and promote and protect their intellectual well-being.  It is state policy to inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.  Under Section 12, the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency shall receive the support of the government.  These state policies are legal fancies that have dried in ink.  It is chaffy rhetoric from legal luminaries.  They are ideals drawn from legalistic minds that to this day lack an iota of reality.  Youth involvement in public and civic affairs are constitutional wishes that are not meant to be.  These state policies inscribed on paper are nothing more than wishy-washy wishes written on sand.

I don’t see how the youth can play a vital role in nation building when the leaders themselves keep building family dynasties, turning the country into a nation of oligarchs.  I don’t see any state or government program proving recognition of the role of the youth in nation building.  I don’t see any state-instigated crusade to encourage the involvement of the youth in public and civic affairs.  Nation building calls for prioritizing the well-being of the youth and not the well-being of oligarchs and family dynasties.  Nation building does not come from a tradition of self-help, self-enrichment and self-service.  Not one of those we call honorable is behaving like a shepherd in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency.  Nation building comes from nationalism, patriotism and nobility which relates to our heroes and martyrs and not to politicians.  For 88 years, from 1899 to 1987, all constitutions were politicized and public policies were torpedoed by private agendas of self-help, self-enrichment and self-service.

The youth need a sugar daddy, a champion of their cause and a knight of their aspirations.  They need whatever help they can get from generous benefactors who sympathize with them.  As the next generation of leaders, preparing them for leadership roles befits the tutelage of those known to have led by precept and example.  Unfortunately there is hardly a sugar daddy, hardly a knight and hardly a benefactor from the well-to-do.  This incongruous situation fictionalized the constitutional wish of promoting the general welfare.  The sugar daddies highly-revered, the knights well-regarded and the benefactors greatly-adulated are leaders who replaced marshal law with ex-marital law through a series of half-blood brothers and sisters. This lifestyle does not sit well with religiosity.  It is utter renunciation of the dignity of every human person, the sanctity of family life, the vital role of the youth and the role of women in nation building.

An intern is an advanced student or recent graduate usually in a professional field, as in medicine or teaching, who is apprenticing to gain supervised practical experience, as in a hospital or a classroom, before entering into a specific profession. There is an internship program for doctors and an internship program for teachers.  The involvement of the youth in public and civic affairs can give meaning only with an internship program in public administration.  Every secondary school institution, public or private, should include an apprenticeship program for its students to work as an apprentice side by side with public employees in government offices.  An internship program for secondary school students in the senior year would familiarize them with how government works as a public institution.  This internship program would give the youth a learning experience on the implications of public service and a chance to run government as citizens under the guidance of its office holders.

Learning by doing is more effective than learning by reading.  The input of the participant is greater then the input of the watcher.  Giving a chance for students to conduct the business of government as a part of school curriculum is for the common good.  There should be an internship program for high school seniors in the legislative, executive and judicial departments of government.  Study of the Constitution as a part of the school curricula is not enough.  By internship in the legislative department, they will have practical experience on how laws are made.  By internship in the executive department, they will have practical experience on how laws are enforced.  And by internship in the judicial department, they will have practical experience on how laws are interpreted and become familiar with proceedings and the appeals process.

An internship program gives the youth an opportunity to obtain firsthand exposure to the internal workings of government in public service.  Without the internship program, the young will never come to know the rule of law, truth, justice and equality envisioned in the 1987 preamble.  With an internship program, they will come to grips with the burdens of responsibility in public business hand in hand with accountability and transparency.  There is an internship program in the medical profession because doctors are dealing with the lives of patients and so clinical experience is important.  There is an internship program in the teaching profession because teachers are dealing with the future leaders of the country and so tutorship experience is important.  There is an internship program in the legal profession because lawyers are dealing with truth, justice, and the rights and freedoms of citizens and so legal research, writing skills and law clerk duties are important. My advocacy of an internship program for the youth would provide meaning to the constitutional wish of promoting the general welfare and promoting the common good.  The involvement of the youth in public and civic affairs could be carried out meaningfully with a sense of urgency in an internship program.