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By Efren L. Danao Senior, Reporter
Forcing Charter change or
“Cha-cha” before 2010 would spark another “people power”
uprising, a senator warned on Friday.
Two such revolts toppled two
presidents, Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and Joseph Estrada in 2001,
with the influential Roman Catholic Church playing decisive roles in
both instances.
In making the warning, Sen.
Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, now aligned with the minority bloc,
said his group would challenge attempts to amend the 1987
Constitution before the election for president two years from now.
Pangilinan and his fellow members
of the Senate minority issued the statement on stopping Charter
change, or “Cha-cha,” after 163 congressmen signed a joined
resolution seeking to convene the House and the Senate into a
Constituent Assembly to tinker with the Constitution. A
three-fourths vote or 178 of the 238 members of the House is needed
to convene such assembly.
Pangilinan said the Arroyo
administration should not test the patience of “a deeply
disappointed people” as he urged proponents of Charter change to
junk their plan “lest it sparks another uprising.”
“Despite our obvious handicap,
the new minority in the Senate will do everything in its power to
stop any attempt at Charter change,” he added.
Sen. Pia Cayetano echoed
Pangilinan’s opposition to “Cha-cha.”
“We may just be the minority in
the Senate, but we share the sentiments of the overwhelming majority
of our people who are opposed to any changes in the Charter before
2010,” she said.
Cayetano added that she finds it
suspicious that the House of Representatives renewed its efforts
after a change in the Senate leadership and after Press Secretary
Jesus Dureza had prayed that President Gloria Arroyo’s tenure
extend beyond 2010. New Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is a
long-time proponent of a parliamentary-federal form of government.
“The public can count on the
new minority in the Senate to stand up against renewed efforts to
tinker with the Charter to serve the unpatriotic and selfish agenda
of a few,” she said.
Not for ‘Con-ass’
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino
Pimentel Jr., who favors a shift to a federal government, cautioned
the House against pushing for joint voting in a Constituent
Assembly, or “Con-ass,” saying any amendments to the
Constitution should be done “the right way.”
The House has said that it
believes that the required three-fourths vote could get through in a
joint voting of the House and the Senate. This would make the Senate
vote virtually irrelevant, since congressmen outnumber the senators
238 to 23.
Pimentel said the congressmen
would be wasting their time and efforts if they insist that the
Senate and the House can vote jointly on every and all Charter
amendments, instead of separately.
“One chamber cannot even pass a
new law creating a new barangay [village] or the national budget
bill by itself. And more so, it cannot amend the Constitution
unilaterally,” he argued.
Senator boycott
Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd
said no senator would participate in a Constituent Assembly should
the House insist on joint voting. He added that the Senate would go
to the Supreme Court if the House proceeds to amend the Constitution
on the basis of the three-fourths vote.
“I believe that the Supreme
Court justices will decide based on their conscience, not on
political favors,” Roxas said, while noting that most of the
justices are appointees of President Arroyo.
He defended Enrile from
suspicions that the new Senate leadership would strongly push for
constitutional amendments.
“Senate President Enrile
assured us that he would not impose his views on us and that he
would give equal weight to all views,” Roxas said.
Doublespeak
Former Senate President Franklin
Drilon said that while the President appeared to be no longer
interested in pushing for “Cha-cha,” her eldest son, Pampanga
Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, was leading a signature
campaign in the House to amend the Charter.
“The doublespeak of Malacañang
on Charter change is too obvious to ignore. It is now clear that
President Arroyo has not given up on the prospects of extending her
stay in power until after 2010,” he added.
Rep. Arroyo’s move “is the
best confirmation the people have that Mrs. Arroyo intends to hold
on to power beyond 2010,” Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay said
also on Friday.
In a statement, Binay, also the
president of the United Opposition, added that the renewed push for
Charter change had the President’s blessing.
“If Mrs. Arroyo were really
sincere in stepping down in 2010, she could have easily dissuaded
her son from securing signatures for a resolution to convene
Congress into a Constituent Assembly for the purpose of amending the
Constitution,” he added.
Palace reaction
Malacañang also on Friday
distanced itself from the alleged moves of Rep. Arroyo to amend the
1987 Constitution.
“While the Palace has
consistently advocated reforms in the Constitution, the process of
achieving those needed reforms is something that is within the
mandate and competence of Congress. Hence, we leave this issue to
the legislative department to handle,” Press Secretary Jesus
Dureza said in a statement.
Despite the controversy brought
about by “Cha-cha,” Trade Secretary Peter Favila said the Palace
supports constitutional amendments but only to economic provisions,
not the President’s term extension.
He added that amending the
economic provisions of the Constitution, particularly land ownership
by foreigners, is important at this time, with the country facing an
economic crisis.
Favila said that accusation of
the Makati Business Club that Malacañang supports “Cha-cha” to
prolong Mrs. Arroyo’s stay is an old issue.
Mikey’s moves
On Friday, Rep. Arroyo admitted
to asking colleagues to sign a resolution calling for Charter
change. He said, though, that the proposed amendments do not include
a term extension for his mother.
Malacañang defended him, saying
it is not correct to conclude at this time that he is behind
“Cha-cha” in the House of Representatives.
The “Cha-cha” resolution,
according to Rep. Arroyo, is being backed by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis
Villafuerte, president of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino, the
party founded by the President.
Numbers game
The “Cha-cha” proponents do
not have the numbers yet, according to Nueva Ecija Rep. Edno Joson,
a perceived Arroyo ally.
Joson also on Friday said
although 178 will do it for the proponents, a mere 60 from the
opponents would undo it.
He added that it is much easier
to produce 60 votes to defeat the proponents.
According to Joson, that number
could be delivered by the Nacionalista Party headed by former Senate
President Manuel Villar Jr., the Liberal Party headed by Sen. Roxas
and half of the Nationalist People’s Coalition that supports
Senators Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda.
This number, he said, does not
include votes from lawmakers representing party-list groups who face
extinction if “Cha-cha” pushes through.
--With Angelo S. Samonte, Cris G. Ordonia, James Konstantin
Galvez And Sammy Martin
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