Congress eyes deal on Cha-cha

The Senate and the House of Representatives have agreed to iron out their differences on the controversial issue of Charter change (Cha-cha).

Sen. Edgardo Angara, who chairs the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and electoral reforms, said yesterday he and his House counterpart, Rep. Eduardo Antonio Nachura, would meet later this week to discuss ways of resolving the deadlock between the two chambers on Cha-cha.

He said a possible compromise would be taken up.

Senators and congressmen have been under pressure from pro-constitutional amendment groups to talk and resolve their differences. Their calls have been supported by Senators Ramon Magsaysay Jr. and Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

The House has adopted Concurrent Resolution 16, which urges Congress to convert itself into a constituent assembly to propose constitutional amendments. Most senators, on the other hand, want the amendments done through a constitutional convention.

Angara and Sen. Robert Barbers, who belongs to the ruling Lakas party, are supporting the congressmen’s constituent assembly proposal.

Angara said his committee would soon submit its report on Cha-cha to the Senate.

He said he did not know yet whether the committee would recommend the constituent assembly mode of amending the Constitution or the election of a constitutional convention.

"We don’t know that yet. We don’t know whether there is really a majority for one mode or another. That is what we are going to ascertain in the committee," he said.

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. and his House colleagues have claimed that they have at least nine constituent assembly mode supporters in the Senate, including Angara and Barbers.

Pimentel is also for this less expensive and more expeditious way of rewriting the Charter, but he wants members of Congress to respect the present limits on their terms even if the present form of government is changed.

He said people won’t suspect lawmakers of protecting their own interest if the term limits are not lifted.