GMA House allies hopeful of breakthrough on Cha-cha

The deadlock between the Senate and the House of Representatives on how to introduce amendments to the Constitution could be over if the lawmakers continue their efforts to hold dialogues until next month.

Administration lawmakers said the continuing dialogue between senators and congressmen on the process of introducing amendments to the Charter could produce positive results.

"I believe there will be positive developments in our succeeding meetings. We are still on the exploratory stage of our dialogue. We will present our best argument on constituent assembly when the right time comes to discuss it," Baguio City Rep. Mauricio Domogan said.

Contrary to popular perception, Domogan said the failure of the senators and congressmen to reach an agreement on their first set of dialogue late Wednesday was in no way a "setback" to Charter change initiatives.

"The House is willing to bend and hopes the senators will set aside their hard-line position for the Senate-House panels to reach a win-win stand. What we can’t compromise on is the nation’s welfare," he said.

Domogan said the lawmakers have noted the parallel move by sectors such as the Sigaw ng Bayan coalition gathering signatures nationwide for the people’s initiative mode to amend the Constitution.

The group had claimed to have gathered almost nine million signatures to call for a referendum for Charter change.

"We cannot allow ourselves to be overtaken by events due to our inaction. The people are keenly waiting for the result of our dialogue since Cha-cha (Charter change) is moving rather slow in Congress, unlike the people’s initiative which has secured almost nine million signatures," Domogan added.

Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco, for his part, cited as an example the willingness of senators to meet their counterparts on June 8.

Cuenco said the effort showed the Senate wanted to break the impasse, aware of the public pressure on them to continue the dialogue with congressmen on the process of introducing amendments to the Constitution.

Cuenco said the Senate cannot ignore the growing call to amend the Constitution and shut out the possibility of a parliamentary government.

"This is the very purpose of a dialogue, to find a middle ground so we can attain our goal to push Cha-cha. We hope that the panel will listen to our appeal to tackle proposed amendments first so that the talks can move forward," Cuenco said.

The House has been pushing for the adoption of a resolution to convene both legislative chambers of Congress into a constituent assembly to introduce amendments to the Constitution.

The Senate, on the other hand, has adamantly opposed the House proposal and instead wants a constitutional convention.

In an apparent attempt to appease the congressmen, Sen. Richard Gordon proposed a legislated Charter change.

But congressmen pointed out such a process could take years. To resolve the deadlock, Congress leaders agreed to hold dialogues on the process of Charter change.

Though senators are willing to sit down with congressmen to tackle proposed constitutional amendments, they wanted the two chambers of Congress to vote separately on those amendments.

Both Cuenco and Domogan, however, urged Senate President Franklin Drilon not to preempt the dialogue by insisting that senators should hold separate voting under a constituent assembly.

"We know that most senators still favor separate voting. Senator Drilon doesn’t need to rub it in, as if telling us that the panel is just wasting its time," Cuenco said.

"What the dialogue participants need is to find the key to advance their talks via an acceptable compromise," he said.

Set aside political agenda

The main proponents of the people’s initiative led by the Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) led by Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado said the lawmakers could still break their impasse.

He said they have reached an agreement with Sigaw ng Bayan in warning the lawmakers against rushing a plebiscite in order to open an interim Parliament following the abolition of Congress.

"We would like to caution congressional leaders against setting any timeline on Charter change because there are still several factors that have yet to be resolved before we can take the next steps in pushing the proposed shift to a unicameral parliamentary system of government," Aumentado said.

He said ULAP will stick to their schedule and will not push for a plebiscite until after the nationwide advocacy and consultations on amending the Constitution have been completed.

Aumentado said he will lead the ULAP officials in meeting Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to present their position on Charter change.

At the same time, Aumentado urged lawmakers to join the ongoing efforts of ULAP and Sigaw ng Bayan coalition to educate the people on the benefits and merits of constitutional reforms.

He said local officials have already finished conducting their consultative summits in 57 provinces with 22 more provinces starting this week.

Aumentado also pointed out the verification by local election registrars of some nine million signatures for the people’s initiative as gathered by Sigaw from 213 congressional districts is still ongoing.

He said some "critical" areas are yet to overcome "legal obstacles" before the validation process could proceed.

"The petition for the people’s initiative has not yet been filed by Sigaw or any other proponent for Charter change for that matter. Thus, it is too premature for our congressional leaders to crow about the establishment of an interim Parliament," Aumentado said.

Aumentado stressed the possibility of facing a petition before the Supreme Court questioning the legality of their campaign for a people’s initiative.

For his part, League of the Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) spokesman Catanduanes Gov. Leandro Verceles Jr. claimed more than 50 percent of the signature gathering had already been accomplished.

"There are pockets of strengths in some areas. Some have registered over 30 percent, some have registered only about four percent but definitely each legislated district has registered over the legal requirement of three percent," Verceles said.

"You have substantial play when it comes to legislated districts, what you just have to do is to get three percent wherever you want to get it," he said.

The Charter Change Advocacy Commission (ad-com), meanwhile, appealed to senators to set aside their respective political agenda which has been causing the delay in Charter Change initiatives.

"We need the cooperation of the Senate. However, the senators refuse to face the issue and are concerned only with how to go about their political plans with some of them even planning to run as presidential candidates," ad-com chairperson Lito Monico Lorenzana said in a forum held in Parañaque City.

Lorenzana said they would need the help of the senators in explaining before the public the process of amending the Constitution.

However, Lorenzana noted such a possibility ended with the adversarial stand by the Senate against any form of Charter change.

Verceles also reiterated Lorenzana’s sentiments. "The senators, I hope in the end, would exercise statesmanship, set aside political considerations, and really help out on this. They should support what the people want," he said.

Verceles said the LPP is supporting the initiative of the Sigaw ng Bayan.

"We believe that Charter change is timely and that we are espousing this at a time that we really need it in our history. We are very happy because it shows that the undertaking is indeed a multi-sectoral effort," Verceles said. — With Rhodina Villanueva