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Friday, February 10, 2006
Arroyo's allies start move to convene Congress into Con-Ass
THIRTY-four members of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) party have began a signature campaign to gather 195 votes that would assure the immediate approval of a move that would convene Congress into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass).
Kampi president and outgoing Antipolo City Representative Ronaldo Puno initiated the campaign before he finally leaves his post as congressman and assume his appointment as secretary of the Department of the
Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The party has made their campaign official as some of its members claimed that it has the blessings of Arroyo herself. The formal launching was held Thursday in a Quezon City restaurant.
The resolution, which was initially signed by Kampi members, endorses "convening Congress into Constituent Assembly to propose amendments to the 1987 Constitution pursuant to Section 1, Article 17 thereof".
It would be circulated among members of the House of Representatives and the Senate to get the required number so they could finally start discussions on specific amendments in the 1987 Constitution.
It is believed that Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) of House Speaker Jose de Venecia would immediately join the move to carry out his pet proposal to amend the 19-year old Charter.
De Venecia said he expects approval of the moves to amend the Constitution by June this year or before the 13th Congress starts its third and final regular session by July.
He pointed out that under Article 17 of the Constitution, "Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by the Congress upon a vote of three-fourths of all members."
"It does not say Constituent Assembly, just three-fourths of Congress. This means we don't have to sit as a Con-Ass so long as we get the number," he said.
Kampi needs 195 signatures or three-fourths of the total 260 members of Congress composed of 236 lawmakers from the House and 24 from the Senate.
The idea was first floated by House committee on Constitutional amendments chairman, Representative Constantino Jaraula of Cagayan de Oro, even before the committee submitted its report to the plenary for debates.
With the formal declaration of its move to gather 195 votes, Puno expressed belief that they could immediately muster the number and submit the resolution to Majority Floor Leader Prospero Nograles for further action.
He bragged about how efficient and organized his group works. He said if the President's men was able to secure Arroyo during the impeachment call against her by coming up with as much as 150 signatures, the more they could easily gather the support of other congressmen now.
Although there are reports that members of the Senate had reiterated their opposition to moves being taken by the House to convene Congress as a Constituent Assembly to pave the way for the Charter amendments, Puno is determined that he would be able to convince some of the senators to support the Kampi's cause.
So far, he said, there are four or five senators whom he had talked to and three more opposition congressmen who are in favor of their resolution.
Representative Luis Villafuerte said they have to move swiftly so that the proposed Charter amendments would not have to wait long for its approval.
He noted that deliberations on Charter change had been derailed by conflicting interpretations of the law on how to introduce the amendments and the strong resistance by some sectors of the society to proposed specific amendments.
House majority leader Prospero Nograles, who also attended the launching of the signature campaign, signed the resolution. He said though that the Lakas CMD would launch a separate campaign to fasttrack the move. (DBP/Sunnex)
(February 10, 2006 issue)
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