Arroyo adviser named for Charter amendments

President Arroyo has named former Congress secretary-general Camilo Sabio as her adviser on constitutional reforms to jumpstart the consultation process on proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

Sabio, who the President earlier appointed as convenor of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, now holds a Cabinet rank as head of the Office of Presidential Adviser for Constitutional Reforms (OPACR), created under Executive Order 294, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR yesterday.

The President appointed Sabio last Jan. 16. She signed EO 294 only on March 2. The OPACR will be funded and placed under the Office of the President.

Mrs. Arroyo has included constitutional amendments in her reform and reconciliation platform, the centerpiece of her campaign principles she presented to the nation in her bid to seek a fresh term in the May 10 presidential election.

In her campaign sorties all over the country, the President has vowed her Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan (K-4) will push for a shift to a parliamentary and federal system of government.

"It is evident there are growing movements to propose reforms in the 1987 Constitution to reflect a changed political, economic and social situation in the country, and thereby frame a fundamental law that could provide our people with an enduring framework within which they could achieve peace, unity and progress," the President stated in EO 294.

Administration allies in Congress led by Speaker Jose de Venecia have strongly pushed for Charter change. Moves to advance Charter change were however stalled by debates over which mode to amend the Constitution.