Solon favors Cha-cha through con-con

A Bulacan congressman said yesterday he favors Cha-cha (Charter change) through an elected constitutional convention.

Rep. Willie Buyson Villarama said members of Congress should not do the rewriting of the Charter because people will see the job "as a victory of personal and partisan interests over the national good."

He said a Constitution revised by incumbent lawmakers risks rejection by the electorate.

"The responsible and honest way to rewrite the basic law is through a constitutional convention whose members are freely elected by the people," he said.

Villarama is also against a handpicked assembly that would propose amendments to the Constitution.

"We should not repeat a historic anomaly committed by former President Aquino in 1986 when she appointed a commission that eventually wrote a flawed Charter," he said.

The Bulacan congressman said he favors a shift from the presidential system to the parliamentary form of government to improve the delivery of services and implementation of programs.

The presidential system, with its two-chamber Congress, is an "overly laborious process, entailing excessive losses in costs, time and labor," he said.

He added that any new political structure should "liberate long-suffering provinces and regions from Metro Manila’s economic and political imperialism that favors vested interests."

"There should be a hundred Metro Manilas in the country instead of just one primate region that has historically been the focus of the growth policies and resources of the national government," he stressed.

Meanwhile, Sen. John Osmeña expressed optimism yesterday that President Arroyo will likely agree to constitutional amendments if Congress pushes for it.

Osmeña said the majority in the Senate will have a caucus on Monday and that he will propose that they adopt the "Drilon formula" in changing the Charter. – Jess Diaz, Aurea Calica