Pabling says: Solons erred in drafting charter amendment

Former Cebu governor Pablo Garcia claimed that administration congressmen took a "tactical mistake" when they passed a resolution adopting their own draft of an amended Constitution, saying that the House of Representatives has fallen into the hands of the Senate.

Garcia, co-chairman of the presidential Consultative Commission the Visayas, said the "tactical mistake committed by the lower chamber of Congress only makes it more difficult for us to have Cha-cha this year" because it would be overtaken by events, on top of which is next year's election.

On Tuesday, the House committee on constitutional amendments junked the Con-Com report on Charter change, and instead adopted its own draft of an amended constitution.

Garcia said in their effort to fast track the procedures in amending the Constitution, congressmen allied with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo only made the matter worse as it would be difficult for them to convince the Senate to hold constituent assembly for constitutional amendments.

He said these congressmen led by House Speaker Jose de Venecia should have not taken the Constitutional Commission draft because it was supposedly for the cognizance of the President only.

The more prudent thing to do, he said, was to let the President call for a joint session to tackle the Constitutional amendments instead of passing a resolution.

"They were in a hurry. When I was there during our meeting with (Cagayan de Oro City) Rep. (Constantino) Jaraula, I already expressed my apprehensions that they might fall into the hands of the Senate," Garcia said.

He recalled that when he told Jaraula, the chairman of the constitutional amendments committee, about his apprehensions, the latter just replied that theirs was a "calibrated approach."

"And so now the Senate also has its own calibrated response. You know, there are several numbers of pitfalls," he said.

He further said that even if the Senate would in principle agree to a constitutional assembly, he expects the opposition to elevate the matter to the Supreme Court possibly on the "no-election provision" of the proposed amendments and on the manner of voting, whether it be done jointly by both chambers.

"If they cannot meet before June, there's no more time. By the middle of June, they will have to adjourn and meet again on the fourth Monday of July. They only have until end of August to convince the Senate," he said.

The Charter change issue should be resolved in Congress before December when the process for next year's elections starts.

Should Congress fail to tackle Cha-cha this year, the task to do such will be inherited by those elected in the May 2007 elections.

On the other hand, Gabriela Women's Party-list and its allied party-list groups filed resolution opposing the Charter change and the move to suspend the 2007 elections.

Gabriela-Cebu spokesperson Kaira Alburo said the proposal to change the country's Charter is a desperate move by Arroyo who wants to prolong her stay in power.

"Forcing the issue of Charter change will be costly for Mrs. Arroyo. Charter change at this point will not resolve our country's political and economic woes," she added.

With this, Gabriela along with other allied party-list groups is filing a resolution to oppose Charter change and initiatives to cancel the 2007 polls.

"The moves to hasten Charter amendments are indicative of Mrs. Arroyo's greed and her acute desperation to hold on to power. Indeed, desperate times call for desperate measures," Alburo said.

According to her, Arroyo is so desperate to stay in power that she is set to bribe all elected government officials, including members of Congress, with no elections and term extensions. "She has once robbed the people of our right to vote and she could very well do it again."

She explained that the proposals to shift to a parliamentary form of government also provide for the installation of an "interim prime minister" that will be under the supervision of Arroyo.

"This obviously and shamelessly guarantees Mrs. Arroyo and her lackeys continued domination and plunder," Alburo added.

She said that instead of pushing for Charter change and suspension of 2007 polls, the government should entertain more serious problems of the country like the worsening poverty and the imposition of regressive taxes.

Alburo said that rushing the Charter change to avoid culpability may be seen as a confirmation of Arroyo's guilt and may speed up her removal from power.

"Forcing Chacha will fuel unrest. We cannot allow another year, much less three more years of Mrs. Arroyo," Alburo added. - Cristina C. Birondo, Wenna A. Berondo, and Gregg M. Rubio