Joker: House wasting time – Malaya 11.25.2006

Says Cha-cha advocates are dreaming

ENOUGH already.

Sen. Joker Arroyo yesterday said the House of Representatives is only wasting time in its efforts to convene a Constituent Assembly (Con-ass) to propose changes in the 1987 Constitution.

"Malacañang’s allies at the House of Representatives have occupied the time of the public and I think that it’s also wasting their time and the efforts of the people. They should know how to accept defeat graciously. That’s what governance is all about," he said.

The Supreme Court last Tuesday dismissed with finality the Palace-sponsored People’s Initiative petition prompting the House leadership led by Speaker Jose de Venecia to adopt Plan B which calls for convening Congress into a Con-ass.

Sen. Arroyo said the House could not pull off a Con-ass without the participation of the Senate because the Constitution mandates a bicameral assembly.

He said President Arroyo’s expression of support during Thursday’s ruling majority caucus in Malacañang could have only been a "show."

"That’s what politics is all about. They smile even if they don’t both mean it. They entertain people that they don’t even like. And if you’d look at Joe de Venecia’s smile now, it has turned sour. I pity him, actually. He looks like he is trying to put up a brave front," he said.

He described charter change advocates as "dreamers" who "live in a fairy tale world."

"They are in a dream world. With all the setbacks, they see that the people are not listening or interested, why do they persist?" he said.

Sen. Ralph Recto said a Con-ass sans the Senate is like a wedding without a groom.

"The bicameral nature of Congress does not get suspended when amendments to the Constitution are being discussed," Recto said.

Minority leader Aquilino Pimentel said Malacañang faces a second legal defeat if it insists on pushing Con-ass sans the participation of the Senate.

"Efforts by the Palace and the House leadership to resurrect charter change by converting Congress into a Constituent Assembly are bound to fail because they continue to cling to their outlandish formula that the House can do it alone and ignore the Senate," he said.

He said the Senate would raise the issue to the Supreme Court, which he claimed would likely repudiate the Palace and the House leadership for blatant violation of the Constitution.

"We will block all attempts to change the charter through Constituent Assembly unless it is clear and specific that voting should be done separately," he said.

Senate President Manuel Villar said there is no time to engage in charter change debates, especially since the filing of certificates of candidacy for next year’s polls is starting next month.

"We will be busy with another round of floor debates for the ratification of the budget as approved by the bicameral panel. When we return from the holiday break, we will all be busy for the campaign," he said.

Villar said the Senate should first agree to a Constituent Assembly. This requires a majority vote.

"But I don’t think they (charter change advocates) could get 12 senators to support them. I’d be surprised if they can muster that much support," he said.

He said it is also unlikely that the House leadership could gather 195 warm bodies to vote on proposed charter revisions.

"Getting signatures is different from having warm bodies in the plenary. And in my experience (as former Speaker and representative of Las Piñas), getting that big a support is very, very difficult. The probability is very small," Villar said.

Sen. Richard Gordon, chair of the constitutional amendments committee, said it is too late to begin "wise and exhaustive debates" on the Cha-cha issue.

"Maybe that can wait until after the elections so that debates would be wiser," he said.

He said the December deadline set by House to approve proposed amendments would not do the Constitution justice.

"The Constitution cannot be amended or revised in a rush. It is the fundamental law of the land that we are talking about here," he said.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said President Arroyo is further alienating herself and her government from the people by renewing efforts to tinker with the Constitution.

"My unsolicited advice is that she should distance herself from this drive by the leaders of the House of Representatives to change the Constitution," he said.

Biazon said he does not believe that President Arroyo "is really sincere in effecting change in the Constitution."

"It is possible that the President is just dancing with the music as a payment for political debt to the primary proponents of constitutional change that provided support to her when the administration was threatened in July 8 of 2005. Maybe she is just playing with them," Biazon said.

He was referring to the resignation of 10 of Arroyo’s cabinet members and the resignation calls from the political opposition, President Corazon Aquino, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, the Liberal Party and other previously pro-administration groups.

Biazon said it was unlikely that President Arroyo was enthusiastic about the House’s plan to reduce her into a mere figurehead in a parliamentary set-up.

"It is very, very clear that it is designed to reduce her into a figurehead. And I don’t think she’s very happy about that," he added.

De Venecia said voting on the changes to the 1987 Constitution will be done jointly by both chambers if senators change their minds and support his Con-ass plan.

"Hindi nga nabanggit ang Constituent Assembly. Ang sabi lamang ng Constitution three-fourths shall amend the Constitution. Iyun ang nakasulat sa Constitution, malinaw na malinaw at hindi sinasabi na three-fourths of the Senate at three-fourths ng House of Representatives kundi three-fourths of all members of Congress," he told a radio interview.

The Constitution provides that any revision or amendment to the Constitution may be proposed by a vote of three-fourths of all members of Congress.

Since it does not specifically mention "both Houses," De Venecia interprets this to mean that the House can introduce proposed changes even without the participation of the Senate.

The Speaker claims there are already 202 signatories in his resolution to convene a Constituent Assembly.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Arroyo has assured congressmen allies that the administration is not giving up on charter change. He said Arroyo gave the assurance during the ruling majority caucus last Thursday.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said there is still ample time for charter change and all talks about the 2007 election should be on the back burner for the moment.

He said the administration will only begin preparations for the 2007 elections after all charter change efforts have been exhausted. – JP Lopez, Dennis Gadil, Wendell Vigilia and Jocelyn Montemayor