JDV pushes shift to parliament

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. revived yesterday his proposal for the country to shift to a parliamentary system after the presidential elections in 2004.

Addressing a lawyers’ meeting in Iloilo City, De Venecia at the same time urged President Arroyo to form a "unity government" that would include the opposition so she can better tackle the nation’s problems.

He suggested that Mrs. Arroyo organize such a "government of unity" in the next 60 to 90 days "to remove the poison in the political atmosphere."

He said his proposed unity government "will hopefully put an end to negative and destructive politics."

De Venecia also urged Mrs. Arroyo to seek to "enlist the best and finest of civil society and usher in a constitutional shift to a unicameral parliamentary government."

Philippine political parties have agreed to work toward a constitutional convention, with delegates to be elected during the May 2004 presidential and congressional elections.

A growing budget deficit, the housing crunch and widespread poverty were among the reasons cited for the need to form a government of unity and revise the Constitution. Other reasons were the threat of terrorism and communist and Muslim separatist insurgencies.

Rep. Rodolfo Albano (Lakas, Isabela) supported his House boss’ proposal for a shift to the parliamentary system.

"There is too much gridlock in the decision-making process under the current setup," Albano said.

De Venecia has been pushing for his unity and parliamentary system shift proposals since last May when he convened the first Political Summit attended by the country’s top political parties.

He resurrected his suggestion for the nation to try again the French-type of parliamentary system a day after the House committee on constitutional amendments voted to endorse a resolution reviving the dormant Cha-cha (Charter change) initiative.

The political opposition smells a "hidden agenda" behind the renewed Cha-Cha move.

"Seeing imminent defeat in 2004, Lakas leaders want to postpone the presidential elections to 2007 and extend the terms of office of the President and all other elective officials by three years. That is what is sinister about this resurrected Cha-cha," said Minority Leader Carlos Padilla.

But in his Iloilo speech, De Venecia indicated that the 2004 presidential elections would be held as scheduled and the House Cha-cha initiative won’t touch such schedule.

As recommended by the political summit in May, he said those who would be tasked to review the Constitution could be elected in 2004 simultaneously with the President, Vice President, members of Congress, and local officials.

He said he has talked to Mrs. Arroyo and "she is prepared to contend in the 2004 elections to enable her to achieve a full mandate from the people."

He said the President and Congress must act fast.

"We have long lost the initiative in Southeast Asia, and we must strengthen our strategy because globalization is creating new trends that will wreak havoc and become a test of our survival," he stressed. — With AFP report