House leader to file resolution pushing for con-ass

A resolution calling for Congress to sit as a constituent assembly and amend the Constitution will be filed next week in the House of Representatives once it gets the minimum number of lawmakers’ signatures.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraula, who is pushing the resolution, said he is only 15 signatures away from the 195 signatures needed by the resolution.

Jaraula, chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments, will file the resolution once Congress returns from its Holy Week break, he said. Other congressmen have pledged their support but were unable to sign the resolution because of the recess.

The resolution also backs a people’s initiative being pushed by Malacañang allies to amend the Constitution in line with President Arroyo’s bid to shift the country’s form of government from presidential to parliamentary.

Mrs. Arroyo wants the country to shift a parliamentary system of government, saying it would speed up the passage of legislation needed for economic recovery.

The people’s initiative would bypass the dispute between the opposition-controlled Senate and the administration-dominated House over the move to amend the Constitution.

Senators contend that a constituent assembly may be seen as self-serving because lawmakers would make up the body. They prefer amendments drafted by a constitutional convention, which would be made up of elected delegates.

Amendments to the Constitution may also be directly made by the citizenry in a plebiscite through a people’s initiative if they muster backing from at least 12 percent of the electorate.

However, the people’s initiative has also run into opposition from senators who are questioning its legality.

They cited a 1997 Supreme Court ruling that pointed out the lack of a law allowing a people’s initiative but Arroyo allies are hoping for a Supreme Court reversal.

Past attempts to amend the Constitution failed mainly because of fears that limits on elected officials’ terms would be lifted. Term limits were placed to prevent a repeat of the Marcos dictatorship and help curb corruption.

A Social Weather Stations opinion poll conducted in March found that 56 percent of Filipinos would vote "no" if a plebiscite to approve amendments to the Constitution were held immediately.

On the other hand, 42 percent would vote "yes," while the rest are undecided or have no answer. SWS said the survey results are "contrary to the administration’s claim that constitutional change is unstoppable."

Only 30 percent believed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) "can be trusted to honestly count the votes of the people in a plebiscite to ratify a new Constitution," while 34 percent disagreed and 32 percent were undecided.

The Comelec is suffering a credibility crisis since last year in the wake of the electoral fraud allegations dogging Mrs. Arroyo.

Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, the Arroyo administration’s erstwhile electoral reform adviser, urged reforms that included replacing six of the seven-member commission which he once headed before his appointment to the Supreme Court.

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos argued, however, that they could not be replaced unless they are impeached. — With Mayen Jaymalin, Evelyn Macairan