‘No budget for Cha-cha’

There are no funds for Cha-cha (Charter change) in the proposed P3.3-billion budget of the Commission on Elections for this year, Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos said yesterday.

"There is none, not even a centavo," Abalos told a news forum at Serye Café in Quezon City.

He said if Congress is bent on pursuing Cha-cha this year, the legislature would have to allot at least P2 billion for the conduct of a plebiscite before the ratification of proposed constitutional amendments.

He said if the funds are not included in the 2006 budget, lawmakers could approve a special appropriations bill setting aside the money needed to hold the plebiscite.

Abalos refused to answer questions on whether the House could legally go it alone and bypass the Senate on Cha-cha.

"Please, I do not want to get entangled in the raging debate on that issue between the two chambers," he said.

However, responding to another question, Abalos said the Comelec would have no choice but to conduct a plebiscite if the House bypasses the Senate and proposes Charter amendments, provided funds are made available for the ratification of those amendments.

"If asked to (by the House), the commission would have to conduct a plebiscite, unless stopped by the Supreme Court," he added.

Asked about the appropriations of funds for such a balloting exercise, Abalos pointed out that the House alone cannot set aside taxpayers’ money and would need Senate concurrence for this purpose.

But he agreed with reporters that President Arroyo, who is pushing for Cha-cha by the middle of this year, could use the reenacted 2005 budget to provide funds for a plebiscite.

Opposition congressmen have warned House members that Mrs. Arroyo’s allies have launched a campaign to gather the signatures of at least 195 lawmakers in order to railroad Cha-cha.

If proposed amendments are approved without the participation of senators, congressmen would then send the amendments to the Comelec, which would schedule a plebiscite for their ratification. — Jess Diaz