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Monday, August 08, 2005
House chief backs village meets on Charter change
MANILA -- House Speaker Jose de Venecia endorsed Sunday the call for nationwide barangay consultations on the proposed amendments in the 1987 Constitution that would lead to a change in government from presidential to parliamentary-federal.
He asked local officials to complete the meetings within one month and forward the results to the House of Representatives.
De Venecia issued the call as governors, city and municipal mayors, and other local officials expressed support for amendments to the Constitution.
The House of Representatives, meanwhile, will tackle this week the proposed resolution sponsored by the House committee on constitutional amendments chaired by Cagayan de Oro City Representative Constantino Jaraula calling for a Constituent Assembly (Con-A) of Congress to amend the 1987 Constitution.
House majority leader and Davao City Representative Prospero Nograles Jr. said the House committee on rules will discuss the resolution Tuesday "so that we can forward it to the plenary for debates during the week."
De Venecia said a team of about 100 civil society leaders and Charter reform advocates from the "Coalition of Citizens for Charter Change Now!" have agreed to form small teams to take part in barangay meetings designed to explain the nature of the amendments.
"These meetings are necessary in order to inform our people about the urgency of the reforms we seek," he said.
The House Speaker said the number of Filipinos, about 30 percent, who are in favor of constitutional reform as indicated in a recent public opinion survey "is already a strong head start since we have not actually undertaken any information campaign on Charter reform."
Officials of the Union of Local Associations of the Philippines (Ulap) and the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) have urged the Senate and the House to "set aside personal interests and devote their attention to the most urgent task of constitutional reform."
The local officials asked the 17 senators to stop "blocking a movement for political restructuring that the country needs", and joined the call for a review within 60-90 days of the 1987 Charter by Congress as a Constituent Assembly.
They said the change will end the division in government and speed up policy making because "the Executive and the Legislature will be united and act as one rather than in opposition." The change will also reduce the influence of money politics and the intervention of drug lords and gambling lords in elections and the strengthening of the political system, they added.
Davao del Sur Representative Douglas Cagas, who is the vice chair of the House committee on constitutional amendments, said the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing 70 percent of Filipinos being against Charter change should be a challenge for proponents to heighten their information drive to educate more people on the merits of the move.
Cagas said the campaign should explain to the people that the proposal is not for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's political survival but for national survival and long-term development.
"The 70 percent rating is a normal reaction especially when people lack information on specific provisions in the Constitution which need improvement for national survival," he said.
Cagas said it is imperative for the government to hold information drive on Charter change since the final decision on whether to accept or reject the amendments lies with the people in a plebiscite as mandated by the Constitution.
Other Charter change-related issues that must be thoroughly explained to the people, he said, are the proposed form of government, the most practical mode of amending the Constitution, and the timeline of completing Charter change. (JFF/Sunnex)
(August 8, 2005 issue)
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