Joe’s Cha-cha train sweeps away House rules – Malaya 12.06.2206
BY WENDELL VIGILIA
THE House of Representatives late last night was poised to scrap its rules providing that proposed charter amendments be treated like ordinary bills in a bid to convene itself into a Constituent Assembly this week and come up with proposed amendments next week.
The proposal to change the rules was stymied the other night by the lack of an absolute majority of Cha-cha congressmen.
Last night, 160 congressmen answered the roll call. A vote of one-half plus one of the 232 total House membership or 117 votes is needed to amend House rules.
Apparently having enough warm bodies, the majority called for a division of the house.
Under the old rules, the proposed amendments would have undergone committee hearings and then first, second and third reading. There would have been no time to pass the proposed amendments before the scheduled Christmas recess starting Dec. 22.
Speaker Jose de Venecia, the proponent of the House convening into a Constituent Assembly without the participation of the Senate, has set a Dec. 16 deadline for passage of the amendments in time for a proposed plebiscite before Feb. 16, the last day for filing certificates of candidacy for the Senate.
Deputy majority leader Arthur Defensor (Kampi, Iloilo) kicked off last night’s debates with a motion to amend Rule 15, Section 105 of the House rules.
He said the resolution for a Constituent Assembly should not be treated like an ordinary bill since it involves proposals to change the Constitution.
Rep. Liza Maza of Gabriela tried to stop the deliberations by rising on a matter of personal and collective privilege on the custody issue of American serviceman Daniel Smith who was found RP ready to hand over Smith to US of raping Nicole, a Filipina, in Subic last Nov. 1, 2005.
Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Gerry Salapuddin, presiding chair, declared her out of order since privilege speeches are reserved for Mondays.
A sponsorship speech was delivered by Constantino Jaraula (Lakas, Cagayan de Oro), chair of the committee on constitutional amendments, with Luis Villafuerte (Kampi, Camarines Sur) and Douglas Cagas (NPC, Davao del Sur) supporting the motion.
Jaraula said that Sec. 105 was already obsolete and should be amended, saying that the Constitution clearly states that three-fourths of members of Congress are enough to craft the changes to the Charter. He said that it does not specifically mention the House and the Senate.
Villafuerte said there is no "express provision" in the Constitution on whether the voting should be done separately or jointly by both Houses and therefore "there is no obstacle."
"Clearly, expressly and categorically, the Constitution, upon three-fourths of vote of Congress, can be amended," he said.
On the interpellation of Rep. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna, Defensor said the changes to the Charter could be proposed through a "simple resolution" convening Congress as Con-Ass.
Rep. Roilo Golez (Ind., Parañaque) said the majority appears to be admitting its mistake of adopting Sec. 105 in the past Congresses where De Venecia was the Speaker.
"Ang Kamara de Representantes daw po committed errors in including Sec. 105 in the rules… Di ko po matatanggap ang pagkakamaling ito. Sino ba ang Speaker nuong 9th, 10th, 12th Congress at ngayong 13th Congress? It’s no other than our idol Speaker Jose de Venecia, a fountain of wisdom, who can’t commit a mistake," he said.
"I object to the indictment of the wisdom of Speaker JDV. I voted for him four times already. Parang sinabi nila na nagkamali ako sa pagboto. That’s why I’m defending you Mr. Speaker," he added, eliciting laughter.
Golez said the administration is "ramming Cha-cha down the throats of the people."
"Since I cannot find a precedent in respected parliaments anywhere in the world, therefore, the motion is out of this world. I therefore urge that the motion be rejected because it is out of order, out of turn and out of this world," he said.
Rep. Mario Aguja (Akbayan) insisted that the majority should file a resolution which would go to the committee on rules, citing a precedent in the 11th Congress when Rep. Salacnib Baterina (Lakas, Ilocos Sur) had to withdraw his motion to amend the rules on a point of order of then Rep. Sergio Apostol who pointed out the same thing.
"Mahiya po tayo sa sambayanang Pilipino. We can’t amend rules without making it a resolution," he said.
CON-ASS TRAIN
Sen. Ralph Recto called on De Venecia "not to let the Con-Ass train leave the station if no senators are on board as this would plunge the county into a constitutional crisis."
"Like a train, the Constituent Assembly should run on two rails so I hope our House leaders know the grave repercussions of their action," Recto said.
Recto predicted the Supreme Court would stop the "bullet Con-Ass train if it sees it to be recklessly running on just a single rail."
He said "consultations are happening on both sides of the aisle on the possibility of asking the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of a House convening itself as a Constituent Assembly without the Senate."
"There is bipartisan consensus on this matter," he said.
"The bottom-line is that the House will be challenged in court," he added.
COURSE OF ACTION
Senate leaders would call a caucus this week to discuss their course of action on the attempt of the House to convene a Senate-less Constituent Assembly.
"It is our stand that the House could not unilaterally convene into a Constituent Assembly without the Senate," Senate President Manuel Villar said.
Early this year, the Senate passed a resolution announcing that a Con-Ass must be participated in by both houses with each house voting separately.
Villar said the Senate is drafting a resolution that would reiterate the senators’ stand against Con-Ass.
Majority leader Francis Pangilinan said Senate legal officers are already working on the draft to be submitted to the senators for concurrence.
Pangilinan said the contents of the resolution and other issues related to the move of the House would also be finalized during the caucus.
"At an appropriate time, the Senate’s legal office will file its opposition before the Supreme Court," he said.
Sen. Mar Roxas said the move of the House is cause for grave concern and should merit an equivocal response from the Senate leadership.
"The actions of the House, preliminary as they are, constitute an opening salvo to a sequence of events that will unalterably destroy our system of government," he said. – With JP Lopez and Dennis Gadil
THE House of Representatives late last night was poised to scrap its rules providing that proposed charter amendments be treated like ordinary bills in a bid to convene itself into a Constituent Assembly this week and come up with proposed amendments next week.
The proposal to change the rules was stymied the other night by the lack of an absolute majority of Cha-cha congressmen.
Last night, 160 congressmen answered the roll call. A vote of one-half plus one of the 232 total House membership or 117 votes is needed to amend House rules.
Apparently having enough warm bodies, the majority called for a division of the house.
Under the old rules, the proposed amendments would have undergone committee hearings and then first, second and third reading. There would have been no time to pass the proposed amendments before the scheduled Christmas recess starting Dec. 22.
Speaker Jose de Venecia, the proponent of the House convening into a Constituent Assembly without the participation of the Senate, has set a Dec. 16 deadline for passage of the amendments in time for a proposed plebiscite before Feb. 16, the last day for filing certificates of candidacy for the Senate.
Deputy majority leader Arthur Defensor (Kampi, Iloilo) kicked off last night’s debates with a motion to amend Rule 15, Section 105 of the House rules.
He said the resolution for a Constituent Assembly should not be treated like an ordinary bill since it involves proposals to change the Constitution.
Rep. Liza Maza of Gabriela tried to stop the deliberations by rising on a matter of personal and collective privilege on the custody issue of American serviceman Daniel Smith who was found RP ready to hand over Smith to US of raping Nicole, a Filipina, in Subic last Nov. 1, 2005.
Deputy Speaker for Mindanao Gerry Salapuddin, presiding chair, declared her out of order since privilege speeches are reserved for Mondays.
A sponsorship speech was delivered by Constantino Jaraula (Lakas, Cagayan de Oro), chair of the committee on constitutional amendments, with Luis Villafuerte (Kampi, Camarines Sur) and Douglas Cagas (NPC, Davao del Sur) supporting the motion.
Jaraula said that Sec. 105 was already obsolete and should be amended, saying that the Constitution clearly states that three-fourths of members of Congress are enough to craft the changes to the Charter. He said that it does not specifically mention the House and the Senate.
Villafuerte said there is no "express provision" in the Constitution on whether the voting should be done separately or jointly by both Houses and therefore "there is no obstacle."
"Clearly, expressly and categorically, the Constitution, upon three-fourths of vote of Congress, can be amended," he said.
On the interpellation of Rep. Teddy Casiño of Bayan Muna, Defensor said the changes to the Charter could be proposed through a "simple resolution" convening Congress as Con-Ass.
Rep. Roilo Golez (Ind., Parañaque) said the majority appears to be admitting its mistake of adopting Sec. 105 in the past Congresses where De Venecia was the Speaker.
"Ang Kamara de Representantes daw po committed errors in including Sec. 105 in the rules… Di ko po matatanggap ang pagkakamaling ito. Sino ba ang Speaker nuong 9th, 10th, 12th Congress at ngayong 13th Congress? It’s no other than our idol Speaker Jose de Venecia, a fountain of wisdom, who can’t commit a mistake," he said.
"I object to the indictment of the wisdom of Speaker JDV. I voted for him four times already. Parang sinabi nila na nagkamali ako sa pagboto. That’s why I’m defending you Mr. Speaker," he added, eliciting laughter.
Golez said the administration is "ramming Cha-cha down the throats of the people."
"Since I cannot find a precedent in respected parliaments anywhere in the world, therefore, the motion is out of this world. I therefore urge that the motion be rejected because it is out of order, out of turn and out of this world," he said.
Rep. Mario Aguja (Akbayan) insisted that the majority should file a resolution which would go to the committee on rules, citing a precedent in the 11th Congress when Rep. Salacnib Baterina (Lakas, Ilocos Sur) had to withdraw his motion to amend the rules on a point of order of then Rep. Sergio Apostol who pointed out the same thing.
"Mahiya po tayo sa sambayanang Pilipino. We can’t amend rules without making it a resolution," he said.
CON-ASS TRAIN
Sen. Ralph Recto called on De Venecia "not to let the Con-Ass train leave the station if no senators are on board as this would plunge the county into a constitutional crisis."
"Like a train, the Constituent Assembly should run on two rails so I hope our House leaders know the grave repercussions of their action," Recto said.
Recto predicted the Supreme Court would stop the "bullet Con-Ass train if it sees it to be recklessly running on just a single rail."
He said "consultations are happening on both sides of the aisle on the possibility of asking the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of a House convening itself as a Constituent Assembly without the Senate."
"There is bipartisan consensus on this matter," he said.
"The bottom-line is that the House will be challenged in court," he added.
COURSE OF ACTION
Senate leaders would call a caucus this week to discuss their course of action on the attempt of the House to convene a Senate-less Constituent Assembly.
"It is our stand that the House could not unilaterally convene into a Constituent Assembly without the Senate," Senate President Manuel Villar said.
Early this year, the Senate passed a resolution announcing that a Con-Ass must be participated in by both houses with each house voting separately.
Villar said the Senate is drafting a resolution that would reiterate the senators’ stand against Con-Ass.
Majority leader Francis Pangilinan said Senate legal officers are already working on the draft to be submitted to the senators for concurrence.
Pangilinan said the contents of the resolution and other issues related to the move of the House would also be finalized during the caucus.
"At an appropriate time, the Senate’s legal office will file its opposition before the Supreme Court," he said.
Sen. Mar Roxas said the move of the House is cause for grave concern and should merit an equivocal response from the Senate leadership.
"The actions of the House, preliminary as they are, constitute an opening salvo to a sequence of events that will unalterably destroy our system of government," he said. – With JP Lopez and Dennis Gadil
posted by brodkaster43 at Miyerkules, Disyembre 06, 2006
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