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Saturday, November 25, 2006
Senators urge Palace, allies to drop Con-Ass
MANILA -- Senators on Friday said it is high time that Malacañang and its congressional allies respect the Supreme Court (SC) decision by laying off their plan to convene a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) based on a constitutionally flawed formula.
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But the call fell on deaf ears, with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assuring administration allies in the House of Representatives that the government is not giving up on Charter change.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Palace officials and leaders of the House of Representatives should be forthright enough to admit that Charter change is now dead as a result of the SC's dismissal of the petition for people's initiative filed by the Sigaw ng Bayan.
He said Presidential adviser on political affairs Gabriel Claudio and House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. were bluffing when they insisted there is still time to amend the 1987 Constitution and adopt a unicameral parliamentary system before Congress adjourns on December 22.
Senators maintain that the Senate and House should separately vote on amendments to the Constitution under a Constituent Assembly.
Pimentel said the hard-line position taken by de Venecia and other administration congressmen on the issue "betray their hidden, sinister agenda" behind Charter change at the expense of the people's interest and democratic rights.
He said the agenda is to install an interim parliament composed of incumbent congressmen and senators that will remain under the control of administration allies.
Coupled with this agenda, according to Pimentel, is the scrapping of the 2007 elections under the pretext that the interim parliament will still be preoccupied with its task of laying down the mechanics and structure of a parliamentary system as embodied in the draft resolution on Charter change.
Senator Joker Arroyo said the present administration and its allies should know when to stop, especially in the higher level. "They should also know how to accept defeat graciously. That's what governance is all about," Arroyo said.
The chance of a second motion for reconsideration in the SC is nil, said Arroyo.
He also warned members of the House of Representatives who are threatening to impeach the justices that voted against people initiative from resorting to such a move.
"The House is trivializing a very sacrosanct process, which is impeachment. Impeachment is supposed to be used sparingly, only in a very rare and serious case. You cannot just be throwing impeachment cases at the drop of a hat," Arroyo said.
He maintained that the participation of the senators is part of the Constituent Assembly process and ignoring the voice of members of the Senate will create another problem for both Houses.
"They can do a shortcut but if that reaches the Supreme Court, as most likely it would reach the SC, they are in a very weak position because they did not even bother to ask the Senate to participate. The Senate is a co-equal body," Arroyo added.
Senator Ralph Recto agreed, saying a "Senate-less" Constituent Assembly is like a "wedding without a groom. "You can't go on this alone. The bicameral nature of Congress does not get suspended when amendments to the Constitution are being discussed," Recto said.
"If Senate concurrence is required in a bill changing the name of a street then how much more in changing the Constitution?" he added.
He advised the administration to concentrate on economic provisions that restrict foreign investments and push for amendments that will benefit the people not just the political class.
Senator Rodolfo Biazon, at the same time, warned that Charter change will further bring down the already very low rating of not only President Arroyo but the whole administration.
Biazon said the very low rating of the administration in surveys is because of many unresolved negative issues, including questions of legitimacy due to allegations of election fraud, fertilizer scam, anomalous Northrail contract, Venable lobby contract, the Diosdado Macapagal Highway contract, General Garcia corruption case in the AFP and many others.
Senate President Manuel Villar earlier said that senators will contest before the SC the congressmen's final attempt to change the Charter.
He denied that there are an increasing number of senators who have signified support for Con-Ass even through unicameral voting.
At Malacanang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Arroyo, during a caucus with House allies Thursday in Malacañang, assured that her administration will still pursue Charter change as she stressed the urgency of a major political reform.
He reiterated that they respect the decision of the SC to junk the people's initiative but it does not mean that they are giving up.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said there is still ample time for Charter change and all talks about election should be on the back burner for the moment.
Bunye, who is also Presidential spokesman, reiterated that the government is not totally closing its doors on the 2007 elections but they prefer to talk about it if and only when they have already exhausted all measures for Charter change and they still fail to realize it before the year ends. (CPB/JMR/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Zamboanga. (November 25, 2006 issue)
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