Drilon, JDV set Cha-cha talks

Senate President Franklin Drilon and Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the controversial issue of Charter change.

The one-on-one meeting was revealed yesterday by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., who has been urging the Senate and the House to resolve their differences on Cha-cha.

Opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara, who chairs the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and electoral reforms, and his House counterpart, Rep. Eduardo Antonio Nachura, are also set to meet this weekend to tackle the same issue.

Pimentel said the two chambers should agree on what constitutional provisions should be rewritten before proceeding to discuss the mode of revising the Charter.

"My proposal is that we should not touch the good provisions of the Constitution, including the one on term limits," he said.

He said if such provisions are not subjected to amendments, people would not suspect that members of Congress are motivated by self-interest in wanting to tinker with the Charter.

There would then be less opposition to the House proposal to convert Congress into a constituent assembly to do the rewriting job, he added.

While the House is for lawmakers doing the rewriting job, most senators want it to be done by an elected constitutional convention.

However, according to estimates, a convention would cost taxpayers between P2 billion and P6 billion, a huge expense that the nation cannot afford at this time when it is facing a ballooning budget deficit. – Jess Diaz