EDITORIAL – Going it alone

In the end the battle between the two chambers of Congress over constitutional amendments will have to be decided by the Supreme Court. But in the meantime, the battle is being fought before the bar of public opinion. And so far, while there are people who are skeptical about the need for Charter change or Cha-cha, hardly any tears are being shed over the prospect that the House of Representatives may go it alone and bypass the Senate to amend the Constitution.

This is because people think the main objection of senators to Cha-cha is that it could lead to the abolition of the chamber. That prospect in fact lends appeal to Cha-cha for people who have grown sick of endless Senate inquiries that rarely amount to any piece of legislation. If Cha-cha can put an end to Senate grandstanding, the public will not stand in the way.

If senators do not want to be bypassed in the effort to implement drastic reforms through Charter change, they should see to it that whatever their stand on constitutional amendments, it would be based on something more than self-preservation.

Previous Cha-cha efforts have failed because the main objective was perceived to be the perpetuation of someone in power. This time Cha-cha is being seen as a graceful exit for the nation’s most powerful official who is fighting off impeachment. On top of that, however, Cha-cha advocates are proposing amendments that would make the nation better equipped to compete in the global economy. The proponents are also making a good case for reforms that would end the crippling gridlocks between the two chambers of Congress and between the executive and legislative branches.

Even the mode of amending the Constitution that the House prefers — through a constituent assembly — gets support when proponents point out that a constitutional convention, which the Senate wants, is much more expensive and will require the involvement of the discredited Commission on Elections.

Some senators rightly argue that the President’s impeachment case should be decided first before Cha-cha is pursued. As long as the House keeps the impeachment process going, however, there will be no vociferous public opposition to Cha-cha. And the Senate, running out of arguments, could find itself rendered irrelevant in this effort to implement historic reforms.