Change of mind over Cha-cha

Diehard advocates and proponents of Charter change (Cha-cha) have not lost hope, especially after they got seven out of the 15 Justices of the Supreme Court (SC) who voted in favor of the people’s initiative to amend the country’s 1987 Constitution. To them, the 8-7 decision by the SC last Oct. 25 was not a defeat. The split decision, in fact, has kept their hopes alive to ask for a reconsideration.

Backed by 6.3 million signatures gathered in support of the proposed shift to parliamentary system in the people’s initiative petition to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Cha-cha leaders were undaunted by the SC ruling, especially after President Arroyo egged them on to keep the fire in their hearts burning.

This is the sentiment of local leaders like Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, who is among the prime movers and supporters of President Arroyo in her Cha-cha campaign. The Mayor of Manila is part of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), the group that joined forces with the Sigaw ng Bayan in the gathering of more than 10 million signatures (but only 6.3 million signatures were verified) in support of the people’s initiative petition that was submitted but which was junked by the SC last week.

Atienza told me yesterday they believe they could get any of the eight SC justices to reconsider and reverse their objection against the latest people’s initiative petition. He cited as precedent the reversal of stand by SC Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban in voting against the ULAP and Sigaw petitions. He recalled that Panganiban, along with SC Associate Justice Reynato Puno, voted in favor of the first attempt to amend the Charter through the People’s Initiative for Reform, Modernization and Action (PIRMA) filed in 1997 during the administration of former President Fidel Ramos. "If he (Panganiban) can change his mind, the other (SC) Justices now can also!" Atienza quipped.

He, however, did not name anyone among the eight SC Justices who voted against the ULAP and Sigaw petitions that they think might reconsider his or her vote. Except for Panganiban and SC Associate Justice Antonio Carpio who wrote the majority decision, they count on to change their votes from any of the six other SC Justices – Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Conchita Carpio Morales, Romeo J. Callejo Sr. and Adolfo S. Azcuna.

One of the eight SC Justices had already voted in favor of the ULAP and Sigaw petitions but changed his mind at the last moment. You can guess who this is, if you read the tenor of his concurring decision tending to favor the people’s initiative. So the dispositive portion to reject the ULAP and Sigaw moves did not match his arguments for those who were in favor of the people’s initiative. His obvious original vote was to remand the ULAP and Sigaw proponents to the Comelec. He apparently got swayed into reversing his vote by Panganiban and his former lady boss at Malacañang.

The ULAP and Sigaw are set to file their motion for reconsideration (MR) within the next few days to ask the SC to overturn the ruling in their favor. Sigaw spokesman Raul Lambino announced their group would file their MR to the SC after the All Saints’ Day holiday. In fact, the Sigaw and ULAP, I heard, would even use the SC majority ruling, as penned by Carpio, as their best argument to convince the other Justices to reconsider their votes in favor of the people’s initiative push.

In the 52-page majority decision that he wrote, Carpio likened the Arroyo administration’s Cha-cha efforts to the so-called "revolving-door" policy followed by the President in the promotion of police and military generals nearing retirement age. "A revolving-door constitution does not augur well for the rule of law in this country." Firm believers of Cha-cha cried foul over such strong words.

But the most hurting words contained in that ruling which they deplored, were Carpio’s snide remarks against the President. As ponente of the majority ruling, Carpio wrote: "The Lambino Group claims that their initiative is the ‘people’s voice.’ However, the Lambino Group unabashedly states in ULAP Resolution No. 2006-02, in the verification of their petition with the Comelec, that ‘ULAP maintains its unqualified support to the agenda of Her Excellency President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for constitutional reforms. The Lambino Group thus admits that their ‘people’s initiative is an unqualified support to the agenda ‘ of the incumbent President to change the Constitution."

Truth hurts for the Sigaw people. But in fairness to the administration, as early as day one in office on June 30, 2004, President Arroyo has already identified constitutional reforms in her agenda for the next six years. So there has been no effort to hide Cha-cha in the order of her priorities. Through their Lakas party leadership that the President, co-headed by Speaker Jose de Venecia, the Cha-cha machinery of the administration has started as early as those days.

The pro-administration lawmakers at the House of Representatives jumped into action and quickly set this into motion to the consternation of the Opposition, starting with the anti-Charter change solons. Even a hard-core Cha-cha supporter like De Venecia had to give way to his Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) mode to amend the Charter in favor of the people’s initiative after seeing success in signature-gathering by the ULAP and Sigaw. The Chief Executive even had to ask one of her loyal men, former Antipolo Rep. Ronaldo Puno to leave the Lower House to help her administration take charge of her Cha-cha campaign.

With Puno appointed as her new Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) chief, the leaders of ULAP and Sigaw started the signature-gathering during the annual barangay assemblies that were organized all over the country early this year. The city of Manila led by staunch Arroyo supporter, Mayor Atienza was among the first to deliver the signatures. As mandated by the people’s initiative supporters, there must be at least three percent of the registered voters to sign the petition in each of the legislative districts or a total of 12 percent of registered voters nationwide.

As in the tight voting that went into the PIRMA when the petitioners filed MR to the previous SC, the ULAP and Sigaw also see a possible change in the numbers if they move for reconsideration on their people’s initiative petition. But they might be tightly pressed to carry out their original timetable of holding the plebiscite by the end of the year. So by this time, they are now into counting something else also.

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