SENATE URGED TO TACKLE HOUSE CHA-CHA MEASURE. The manner of amending the 1987 Constitution could be immediately known if only the Senate takes up the House resolution calling for a constituent assembly, a ranking administration legislator said yesterday.
Western Samar Rep. Antonio Nachura, chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments, said the counterpart Senate committee could immediately tackle House Resolution No. 16, ahead of the proposal calling for a constitutional convention. Nachura noted that Sen. Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, filed a similar resolution jointly with Sen. Robert Barbers calling for a constituent assembly. He said Angara's committee was tasked to conduct hearings on the resolutions and will submit its report for plenary consideration.
Nachura suggested House Concurrent Resolution 16 could be incorporated in the Senate committee report. The Visayas lawmaker expressed hopes that the Senate would schedule the House resolution on first reading once Congress resumes session next month. The resolution was transmitted to the Senate immediately after it was approved last week.
Philippine Star, 31 March 2003
HOUSE OKS CHARTER CHANGE, SENDS RESOLUTION TO SENATE. After a month of debates, the House adopted Concurrent Resolution 16, which also calls for a change in the form of government and the abolition of restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution.
House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said the resolution was adopted via voice vote close to midnight on Wednesday. He said the measure will be transmitted to the Senate by House Secretary General Roberto Nazareno. The Senate needs to concur with the House resolution or approve a similar measure for the constituent assembly to be convened.
De Venecia said he was optimistic there would be enough votes among the senators to approve the resolution so that the process of amending the Charter could start in a few months. "It's a relief that we finally approved this resolution but there is one more hurdle to clear -- the Senate,'' said Western Samar Rep. Eduardo Nachura, chair of the House committee on constitutional amendments.
House Minority Leader Carlos Padilla, however, said sending the resolution to the Senate was an exercise in futility since the senators were for amending the Charter through a constitutional convention, whose delegates would be elected during the 2004 national elections.
The Speaker said the country needs a "change of system based on program, platform and political parties, and not on personalities." He said a shift to a unicameral parliamentary form would "dramatically reduce corruption because elections would be less expensive while not depriving the people of [the opportunity of] directly choosing their President.''
House leaders want the Charter amended within the year so that parliamentary elections could be held during the scheduled May 2004 polls.
Philippines Daily Inquirer, 21 March 2003
ANGARA: CHA-CHA SHOULD BE HELD AFTER 2004 POLLS. Opposition Senator Edgardo Angara said yesterday the proposed amendment of the Constitution can take place after next year's combined presidential, congressional and local elections.
He said the people must be assured that the move in Congress to rewrite the Charter does not involve postponing next year's elections. Angara and Lakas Sen. Robert Barbers have authored a resolution asking Congress to convene into a constituent assembly to propose Charter changes. He said he believes that "we need to amend the Charter to allow the country to move forward."
Angara pointed out that many suspect that lawmakers prefer the constituent assembly mode of revising the Constitution because they would propose amendments that would benefit themselves. Cha-cha proponents in the House of Representatives are hoping that Angara and Barbers would push their initiative in the Senate.
However, while Angara wants any change in the form of government to take place after next year's elections, congressmen envision the 2004 polls to be for a French-type parliament.
Philippines Star, 19 March 2003
SPEAKER DE VENECIA REPORTS PROGRESS ON CHARTER CHANGE. Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said a 16-member multisectoral council has been created to mount an intensive campaign to amend the Constitution through a constituent assembly.
Primarily, the council will promote a change to a federal parliamentary form of government with a unicameral legislature. De Venecia said that the multisectoral council includes elected officials and civil society representatives. They will be working through the Holy Week.
Aside from De Venecia, council members include Senators Edgardo Angara and Robert Barbers, Deputy Speaker for the Visayas Raul Gonzalez, Representatives Gerry Espina and Eduardo Nachura, Governors Rodolfo del Rosario, Chico Villafuerte and Pablo Garcia, Mayor Francis Tolentino, president of the League of Cities; Mayor Ramon Guico, president of the League of Municipalities; Marietta Goco and Chit Pedrosa of the Coalition for Charter Change, and Bishop Eddie Villanueva.
De Venecia said French Ambassador Renee Veyret hosted a forum on the parliamentary system for senators and representatives the other day. De Venecia said the occasion was used to seal an agreement between the Senate and House constitutional amendments committees to hold joint hearings on Charter change and to come up with a joint recommendation to Congress.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 12 March 2003
CHA-CHA AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY. Cebu City Rep. Raul del Mar said yesterday that amending the Constitution through a constituent assembly is an exercise in futility because it will never get the concurrence of the Senate.
Del Mar, a proponent of federalism like Senators John Osmena and Aquilino Pimentel Jr., pointed out that as of today, only two senators, Edgardo Angara and Robert Barbers, favor a constituent assembly while 14 prefer the calling of a constitutional convention. Eighteen votes are needed in the Senate to pass the measure calling for a constituent assembly.
He added that even if the 18 senators vote for constituent assembly, the people would reject amendments proposed through it. He warned that the people, rightly or wrongly, would consider all proposals by a body composed of members of Congress as self-serving and highly partisan.
During the plenary debates last Tuesday on the House resolution for constituent assembly, Del Mar got the commitment of Rep. Eduardo Nachura, the measure’s sponsor, to consider the calling of a constitutional convention in June if the constituent assembly fails to gain ground in the Senate.
Source: Philippine Star, 7 March 2003
CHA-CHA MEASURE ‘DOA’ IN SENATE. The Senate won’t give in to increasing pressure from the House of Representatives and some organizations seeking to make Charter change (Cha-cha) one of its priorities for the remainder of the current session of Congress.
Senate President Franklin Drilon said yesterday the Cha-cha resolution that the House is taking up will be "dead on arrival (DOA)" in his chamber. He was reacting to the House decision to discuss Cha-cha in plenary session and the convening of a so-called People’s Summit on Constitutional Reform last Monday at the Club Filipino in San Juan by various groups seeking to rewrite the Constitution.
Drilon said he and his colleagues would devote their time to approving the proposed P804-billion 2003 national budget and the amendments to Republic Act 9160, or the Anti-Money Laundering Law. He said it is already the last week of February and Congress still has to enact the budget for this year. Clearly, the budget and the proposed AMLA changes will take priority over Cha-cha, he said.
Besides, Drilon pointed out that the Senate recognizes the need to rewrite the Constitution but is still opposed to the House suggestion that the amendment be done by convening the two chambers of Congress as a constituent assembly.
Source: Philippine Star, 26 February 2003
HOUSE STARTS DEBATES ON CHA-CHA PROPOSAL. The House committee on constitutional amendments will begin floor discussions tomorrow on convening both chambers of Congress into a constituent assembly that will amend the 1987 Constitution.
Rep. Antonio Eduardo, who chairs the committee, said Charter change discussions can now start after Speaker Jose de Venecia assured the committee of plenary action on the resolution following ratification of amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). De Venecia earlier gave Nachura's panel marching orders to start informal talks with the Senate committee on constitutional amendments headed by Sen. Edgardo Angara in a bid to resolve the issue regarding the method by which the Charter would be amended.
Nachura said the resolution earlier supported by 126 congressmen, representing more than a majority of House members, got the initial support needed from senators with the filing of Senate Concurrent Resolution 13 by Angara and Sen. Robert Barbers endorsing the conversion of Congress into a constituent assembly. Angara said amending the Charter through a constituent assembly would be better than doing so through a constitutional convention.
Domogan said the filing of the Senate resolution endorsing the convening of a constituent assembly for amending the 1987 Constitution shows there were initial dialogues between members of the House and the Senate. The House panel will accommodate all congressmen who may want to participate in the informal meetings with the senators, Domogan added. He also said the committee is at present an eight-member panel which is set to continue talks on Charter change with the senators.
Source: Philippine Star, 17 February 2003
JDV HITS SENATE PROPOSAL TO HAVE ELECTIVE CON-CON. Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. again criticized yesterday the senators’ proposal for electing a constitutional convention to do the task of proposing Charter amendments after the May 2004 presidential elections.
If that were followed, he said it would mean that the amendments would take effect in 2010 since the president to be elected next year would be allowed to finish his or her six-year term. A constituent assembly is Congress itself convening as a Charter amendment-proposing body. The House is overwhelmingly for this Cha-cha mode, which is admittedly less expensive than a convention. However, congressmen who are opposed to De Venecia’s advocacy have told their House boss that the defect lies in the nation’s leaders, including those of Congress, and not in the system.
De Venecia said he envisions a French-style parliament in which a president is directly and nationally elected by the people. The prime minister is chosen by parliament members elected from the country’s different districts. However, he said if the pure parliamentary system - the British model - is favored, "we will introduce an amendment to elect a president as nominal head of state," since the Philippines, unlike Great Britain, has no royalty.
Source: Philippine Star, 10 February 2003