Cha-cha is diversionary, opposition leaders say

The resurrected Cha-cha (Charter change) initiative in the House of Representatives is intended to divert public attention away from the impeachment complaints against President Arroyo, opposition leaders said yesterday.

"It is diversionary, there’s no doubt about it," said San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, who heads the opposition’s impeachment team.

He said the resurrection of Cha-cha was timed to coincide with the impeachment proceedings.

He hinted that Cha-cha is not intended to be discussed in the House but outside it and by the public.

He noted that on Tuesday, after the four-hour impeachment hearing by the committee on justice, the House accomplished nothing in its hour-long plenary session.

"That means that while the impeachment proceedings are going on, we won’t be able to tackle anything substantial in plenary," he said.

Just hours before Tuesday’s impeachment hearing, the committee on constitutional amendments voted to resurrect three Cha-cha resolutions that it had approved last February and May and to endorse them again for plenary discussion.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraula, committee chairman said under the "reformatted" resolutions, the House would invite the Senate again to agree to its proposal for convening Congress into a constituent assembly to propose Charter changes.

Senators have been refusing to cooperate with congressmen in their continual effort to amend the Constitution.

If the Senate refuses again, the House would bypass senators and proceed to recommend constitutional amendments, Jaraula said.

Minority Leader Francis Escudero laughed off Jaraula’s statements, saying one chamber of Congress cannot exclude the other when it comes to proposing Charter revisions.

"What Constitution has he read? Maybe, it is their proposed Constitution," he said.

He said Jaraula, being a lawyer, cannot sincerely and honestly assert that the House can ignore the Senate in its Cha-cha initiative.

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson, reacting to Jaraula’s statements, said the Cagayan de Oro City congressman’s suggestion on the House doing Cha-cha alone is a "crazy" proposition.

"He should know how a bicameral legislature works," he said in a text message to The STAR.

For his part, Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra said his colleagues should not shove senators "outside the kulambo" since "it takes two to Cha-cha."

"We should box them in, not box them out. We should view them as partners, not adversaries," he said.