Lito Monico Lorenzana, the commission’s secretary general, said a team of commissioners will go to Davao City, one to Cagayan de Oro City, and a third to Zamboanga City.
"After the first three major meetings, we will go to the sorties and get the people’s ideas into our draft and then submit it to Congress," he said.
"We will go first to Mindanao. It is, after all, the home of the federalists," he added.
Lorenzana, a native of Davao City, said the regional sorties could be a "logistical nightmare," but that the commission is hopeful Malacañang will increase its P10 million budget.
"We are not going to ask for funding from private donors. We will just ask Malacañang. To preserve the commission’s integrity, we will not accept donations from private groups," he said.
Regional development councils have volunteered to sponsor some of the commission’s regional consultations, he added.
Lorenzana said commissioners are only entitled to an allowance of P2,000 per day, which they can only get if they attend the session scheduled for the day.
The transportation allowances of the commissioners were not included in the P10-million budget, he added.
Lorenzana said Malacañang has yet to act on their request for additional funding.
He said the commission’s work may be completed sooner than expected if a constitution drafted by commission chairman Jose Abueva is adopted by the body.
"Surprisingly, the draft seems to jibe with the Abueva document, which is very good," he said.
The commission’s nine committees will meet starting this week to lay the groundwork for its series of public consultations, he added.
These are:
• Committee on the form of government, chaired by Emmanuel Angeles.
• Committee on the structure of the republic, chaired by Magno Teves and co-chaired by STAR columnist Alexander Magno.
• Committee on national patrimony and economic reforms, chaired by Vicente Paterno.
• Committee on suffrage and electoral reforms and political party reforms, chaired by Cecilio Seno.
• Committee on preamble, national territory, declaration of principles and policies, citizenship, bill of rights and political rights, chaired by businessman Francis Chua.
• Committee on civil service and accountability of public officers, chaired by Antonio Vilar.
• Committee on general provisions, amendments and transitory provisions and constitutional commissions, chaired by Jose Leviste.
• Committee on judiciary, chaired by Omar Amin.
• Committee on style, chaired by Gilberto Duavit and co-chaired by STAR columnist Jarius Bondoc.
Mrs. Arroyo has given the con-com until Dec. 15 to submit its recommendations, which will be sent to Congress for scrutiny and approval.
Meanwhile, Rep. Constantino Jaraula, chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments, has assured the con-com that he supports its creation and mandate to reform the Constitution.
Speaking before con-com members, Jaraula said: "You will never be redundant because the voice of the people will be heard through you."
Jaraula encouraged the con-com to complete its studies earlier than the Dec. 15 deadline.
"Nothing stops you from finishing earlier," he said. "Urgent political reforms are needed in light of grave threats to the country’s democratic institutions."