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Friday, December 08, 2006
House approves Constituent Assembly
MANILA -- Outnumbered, the minority in the House of Representatives failed to stop the Charter change move when the majority, through a viva voce, approved the resolution convening Congress into a constituent assembly (Con-Ass), after a 12-hour marathon session.
But the minority is preparing for a fight outside the halls of Congress, said House Minority Leader Francis Escudero, adding that he and other members of the opposition will bring the matter to the Supreme Court (SC).
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He also warned Malacañang and its allies to brace themselves to more street and "powerful" protests against Charter change in which the amendments will include the lifting of the term limits of congressmen.
The senators, on the other hand, are gearing for a battle in court against the congressmen over the resolution while Catholic bishops are preparing to hold protest rallies against the Con-Ass.
The House, with the leadership's vow to have Con-Ass approved before the weekend, passed Resolution 1450 at 5:40 a.m. Thursday through voice voting.
Speaker Jose de Venecia, who has been advocating Charter change for the past 10 years, was the "very proudest and happiest man" in the Lower House following the approval of the resolution.
He described the approved resolution "a new beginning and a historic step towards national political and socio-economic reformation in the Philippines."
But he added that it will be the Filipino people who will ultimately approve or disapprove the changes in a plebiscite, which is expected to happen in February next year.
A letter was reportedly sent to the 23 senators by the House Secretary General Roberto Nazareno inviting them to "propose amendments to, or revision of the Constitution pursuant to Section 1, Article XVII of the Constitution."
By Monday, the House leadership will began organizing the assembly, with the hope that some senators will join.
Administration lawmakers appealed to their counterparts in the Senate to do their duty by attending the Con-Ass set to convene on Tuesday to propose amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
Prior to the approval of Resolution 1450, the debate between Charter change proponent, Camarines Sur Representative Luis Villafuerte, and a dozen of members of the minority took six hours.
Escudero asked Villafuerte if the scheduled May 2007 elections will push through if Congress convenes as a Con-Ass.
Villafuerte admitted that there was a proposal to move the 2007 elections to November of the same year, lift the term limits on elected officials and extend their term of office to five years.
He however clarified that those who will be elected in November 2007 will finish their term in 2010.
Senate President Manuel Villar, for his part, said the Senate will not take the House Con-Ass move sitting down.
He advised the House of Representative to slow down in seeking to amend the Charter.
Villar said in defense of the Senate as an institution, an overwhelming majority of the senators have firmed up plans to block the Charter change move.
He said the Senate will elevate the matter before the SC, as he maintained that what the House did by convening as Con-Ass may be well within its powers and prerogative but the move to go it alone is fatally flawed.
Villar reiterated that amending the Constitution through Con-Ass should go through the proper and legal process wherein the House and the Senate will convene in joint session, with both Houses voting separately on the proposed amendments. This is in deference to the principle of bicameralism enshrined in the Constitution.
He expressed confidence that the High Tribunal, under newly appointed Chief Justice Reynato Puno, will uphold fairness and prevent the House from making a mockery of the Constitution and the country's democratic traditions.
Meanwhile, Catholic bishops will lead rallies will be simultaneously launched nationwide next week to show indignation over Con-Ass.
Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, said rallies will be held in all dioceses on December 15 nationwide.
"The plan is to have simultaneous prayer rallies in all dioceses (nationwide)," Quitorio told reporters.
"We feel that Con-Ass is a wrong move for the administration because they are trying to instigate the people," Quitorio said, who said politicians are resorting to politics instead of helping others in need of aid and care like the mudslide and typhoon victims in Bicol region.
"This is a time for helping others, not for helping themselves," he added. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (December 8, 2006 issue)
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