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By Efren L. Danao, Senior Reporter
A constituent assembly to amend the Constitution could start next
year despite the Senate consensus that it could wait until after
2010, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said Friday.
In a forum on Charter change at Our Lady of
Fatima University in Valenzuela City, Santiago said Charter change,
or “Cha-cha,” could push through in 2009 if the position of the
House of Representatives on the computation of the three-fourths
vote needed to convert Congress into a constituent assembly would
hold sway.
She explained that the position of the House is
there would be a joint voting of the House and the Senate in a
constituent assembly and that the three-fourths vote should be
obtained from the total number of representatives and senators.
“Since there are more congressmen than
senators, the House will be able to out-vote the Senate,” she
said.
The Senate position is that Charter change needs
three-fourths of the House plus three-fourths of the Senate,” she
said.
She predicted the Supreme Court would eventually
decide the conflict between the House and the Senate. She noted,
however, that even former Supreme Court justices and constitutional
convention delegates are divided on the answer to this issue.
No clear answers from Constitution
The 1987 Constitution did not specify whether
the House and the Senate should vote jointly or separately when
Congress constitutes itself into a constituent assembly to amend the
Constitution. Any Supreme Court decision favoring the House position
would make the Senate vote in a constituent assembly irrelevant.
Santiago said that as a constitutional law
professor, she opposes any Charter change unless there are
compelling reasons.
“One compelling reason is the imperative
necessity to change the nationalistic provisions, in order that the
Philippines can be globally competitive,” she said.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.,
author of a joint resolution seeking a shift to a federal
government, wants Cha-cha as soon as possible. He is hopeful that
his resolution would precipitate a nationwide information campaign
and debates on the merits of his proposal.
Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate
Committee on Constitutional Amendments, had said he would conduct
hearings nationwide to feel the sentiments of the regions on Charter
change. At the same time, he insisted that amending the Constitution
could be best pursued if candidates who make an issue of it in 2010
will win.
Senate President Manuel Villar said Charter
change could wait until after 2010.
“It is too divisive an issue right now, when
we should be concentrating on alleviating the economic difficulties
of our people,” he said.
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