Lakas leaders endorse Cha-cha

The ruling party Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) is likely to endorse the proposal to amend the Constitution and shift the form of government to a unicameral parliamentary system when its leaders meet tonight, party national executive director Joey Ma. Rufino said yesterday.

Rufino said the 93-member Lakas national directorate, the party’s policy-making body, will also discuss the selection process to choose national and local candidates for the May 2004 elections.

President Arroyo, the party’s national chairwoman, heads the national directorate. Other members include Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Lakas-CMD president; Speaker and Lakas national co-chairman Jose de Venecia; and former President Fidel Ramos, Lakas chairman emeritus.

The President, however, will not be able to attend tonight’s caucus. She is leaving for a state visit to South Korea today.

Also expected to attend are Lakas senators and congressmen, who chair 27 major committees in the House, two deputy speakers, governors, as well as city and municipal mayors.

"Most likely it (amendments to the Charter) will be endorsed," Rufino told The STAR. "We are formalizing the endorsement."

Rufino, when asked to comment on reports that some Lakas members are opposed to Charter change, said, "that’s going to be the party line and it will bind everybody."

Rufino said the proposed Charter change through a constituent assembly has been strongly endorsed by local officials nationwide, from governors and mayors down to barangay officials.

Ramos also supports the convening of a constituent assembly as a mode of amending the Charter and the shift to a parliamentary form of government, he said.

De Venecia said in the event that a constituent assembly is convened, the May 2004 elections will push through and that there will be no term extensions.

He said the proposed amendments are limited to changing the political structure of government and to lifting certain restrictive economic provisions.

"This is not a wholesale overhaul of the Cory Constitution, which has many good points," De Venecia said. "It is a limited revision — and we will have, in the end, the 1987 Revised Constitution."