Thursday, December 14, 2006 More needed than apologies on Con-Ass fiasco: Dakay
FILIPINOS have become too familiar with “I’m sorry.”
That was the reaction of Cebu Archdiocesan media liaison officer Msgr. Achilles Dakay on the apology of Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco for supporting the constituent assembly (Con-Ass) as a way to amend the Constitution.
“It is not enough to apologize because we are too familiar with ‘I’m sorry,’” Dakay told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.
Although he did not explain how the public is familiar with the apology, President Arroyo said the same thing in June last year. Arroyo apologized over a phone call she made to a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official at the height of the 2004 poll canvassing.
Dakay said that an apology should come with an explanation.
“He (Cuenco) has to explain why they (congressmen) did it. Because the party told them to do it? That shows a lack of independence of mind,” said Dakay.
All of Cebu’s legislators in the House of Representatives who voted for the resolution on the Con-Ass last Thursday.
Dakay questioned the defense of some lawmakers that they only supported Con-Ass because the party they are affiliated with was inclined to pass the resolution.
He cited the adage, “My loyalty to the party ends where loyalty to the country begins.”
“What happened to that saying?” he asked.
Cebuano congressmen are the voice of the Cebuanos, therefore they speak for the Cebuanos when they voted for the Con-Ass, said Dakay.
That is why the Cebuanos need an explanation for the way they voted, he added.
Former constitutional convention (Concon) delegate and now Court of Appeals Justice Regalado Maambong admitted that they erred in one provision of the 1987 Constitution, which is now the subject of a debate.
He said that it is not clearly stated whether the House and the Senate should vote jointly or separately in amending the Constitution through constituent assembly.
“Siguro mangayo ko ug pasaylo. Nasipyat mi. Wa namo maamendar, wa to hibantaye (I think we need to apologize. We erred. We failed to check it,” Maambong said in a dyLA interview.
He said the provision was meant for a unicameral system of government but what was approved was bicameral, so the provision should have been changed.
In a separate interview, Comelec Provincial Edwin Cadungog said now is the “ideal time” for the Senate and the House of Representatives to call for a constitutional convention.
They have to move fast so that the election for Concon delegates will be included in the May 2007 elections. This way, the government can save on expenses.
Cadungog admitted that the election of Concon delegates will be an additional burden on their part but this comes with their job.
But he said another way of choosing Concon delegates is by appointment like what happened during the time of president Corazon Aquino.
Both the Senate and the House will have to authorize the President to appoint the delegates.
The House of Representatives is now pushing for Concon as a way of amending the 1987 Constitution.
This after several groups opposed their first move, which was to convene Congress as constituent assembly even without the consent of the Senate.
Former Cebu governor Pablo Garcia and Rep. Clavel Asas-Martinez (Cebu, 4th district, Cebu) have expressed interest to run for Concon if it will push through. (JGA/MBG)
