Seven senators support con-ass

Up to seven senators are reportedly supporting the House proposal for Congress to convene as a constituent assembly (con-ass) to propose constitutional amendments.

"Five to seven senators will attend con-ass when it is convened soon," Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte told a news forum at the Serye Cafe in Quezon City yesterday.

However, Villafuerte refused to name names, saying it is their agreement with the unnamed senators that the latter would identify themselves by attending the con-ass session that the House intends to call soon.

"We expect them to show up," he said.

In the past, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. mentioned Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Juan Ponce Enrile and Edgardo Angara as supporting Charter change (Cha-cha) through con-ass.

Senators have passed a resolution opposing the plan of the House to bypass the Senate on Cha-cha. They expressed their collective sense that any proposed amendment would have to be approved by the two chambers "voting separately."

However, lately, Santiago has been quoted as saying that there was wisdom in the claim of the House that it can bypass the Senate by getting the votes of 195 congressmen and congresswomen for Cha-cha, or three-fourths of the combined membership of 260 of the two chambers.

Congressmen claim they can approve amendments by getting the support of three-fourths of House members since the Constitution requires only the vote of "three-fourths of all members of Congress" and does not prescribe that the two chambers vote separately.

"With up to seven senators attending con-ass, our job of getting the three-fourths will be easier," said Villafuerte, who belongs to the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi).

In the same forum, Rep. Teodoro Casiño of the militant party-list group Bayan Muna urged President Arroyo and her allies in Congress to abandon their Cha-cha initiative.

"Cha-cha is not the answer to the problems the nation is facing. On the contrary, Cha-cha could make our problems worse," he said.

He said the proposed shift to the parliamentary system and the abolition of the Senate would destroy the system of check and balance essential in a democracy.

Casiño warned the nation that the envisioned parliament would be reduced to a rubberstamp of Malacañang.

Villafuerte said the House would soon force the Cha-cha issue by asking the Senate that the two chambers meet in joint session or convene as a con-ass to propose amendments.

He said once congressmen, "in combination with some senators," approve the amendments, the matter of Cha-cha through con-ass becomes a "justiciable controversy that can be elevated to the Supreme Court."

He expressed confidence that the high court would rule in favor of the House.

"Remember that the 1935 Constitution explicitly provided for separate voting by the two chambers of Congress. The present Constitution only provides that amendments be approved by a vote of three-fourths of all members of Congress," he said.

Earlier, Majority Leader Prospero Nograles said the House intends to finish Cha-cha next month so that a plebiscite could be called on the proposed amendments in November or December.

"We will have a parliament in January 2007," he said.