(Update) House OKs con-ass

By CARMELA FONBUENA, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 06/02/2009 10:20 PM

After months of jockeying, the House of Representatives on Tuesday night approved House Resolution 1109 which will convene Congress into a constituent assembly (con-ass) and propose amendments to the 1987 Constitution, including changes that may prolong President Arroyo’s stay in power.

In a highly-charged viva voce vote, the Ayes were overwhelmingly louder than the Nays.

Starting at 5 p.m., solons from the minority interpellated the principal supporters of the resolution. They attacked the proponents for railroading it, and accused President Arroyo of being behind the move to amend the charter and prolong her stay in power.

However, their arguments fell on deaf ears.

Prior to the plenary deliberations, House Speaker Prospero Nograles had a caucus with members of the majority. They agreed to approve HR 1109 first before taking up the Right of Reply bill and the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program extension bill.

Interpellations were cut short when before 10 p.m., South Cotabato Rep. Didagen Dilangalen moved to end the deliberations since the same questions were being asked by the interpellators.

Out of the 11 scheduled interpellators, only five members were allowed to speak– Minority Leader San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, Deputy Minority Leader Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza, and Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III.

Members of the minority questioned Dilangalen’s motion, but it won eventually. The motion to put HR 1109 to a vote was then met with more objections.

“We in the minority always know how to lose. Why do we do this? It is to speak for the record. To define what we stand for, always to fight for the day of deliverance. Mr. Speaker, that day will come,” Zamora said shortly before the voting.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano told ANC the stage is set to amend the charter to suit President Arroyo’s interests once the administration is convinced it has the three-fourths vote in the constituent assembly.

No direction

Despite the approval of HR 1109, it remains unclear how and when they plan to convene the constituent assembly. House Speaker Prospero Nograles told reporters after the majority caucus he will call a leadership meeting after the resolution is approved.

La Union Rep. Victor Ortega and Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia, who were among those who sponsored the bill, couldn’t give a straight answer when they were asked what would happen after the approval. They said it will be studied.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., also one of the sponsors of the bill, said the rules committee will decide how the constituent assembly will be convened.

Asked after the majority caucus if it’s possible that they will immediately convene the constituent assembly, Nograles said, “I don’t think we have time. I don’t think we will convene after approval. After we come back na siguro. Maybe after SONA. Maybe.”

President Arroyo is scheduled to deliver her last State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 27.

Takes two to Cha-cha

Several administration congressmen have expressed reservations about the main point of the resolution, which says joint voting is the proper way to approve charter amendments in the constituent assembly. As opposed to separate voting, joint voting allows the 270-member House of Representatives to effectively bypass the 23-member Senate.

“It takes two to dance the Cha-cha. I am going to make a disclaimer. I believe it (resolution) will have to be sent to the Senate,” said Garcia, a key administration ally.

Ortega, chairman of the committee on constitutional amendments, echoed Garcia in saying the House of Representatives cannot bypass the Senate.

Even the resolution’s principal mover, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte is convinced that not all administration allies are for HR 1109.

“The one who filed this is Speaker Nograles himself. I think there is a group in the majority that is undermining the resolution that they are sponsoring,” he said.

A Teacher partylist Rep. Ulpiano Sarmiento III, a member of the administration, was one of those who did not follow the instruction during the majority caucus to approve the resolution.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you. There is no assurance that the gentleman’s agreement as manifested in [HR] 1109 regarding the non-extension of the term of the president shall be recognized and honored once we are transformed into a constituent assembly. It does not deserve this haste,” he said before the resolution was put to a vote.

Pangasinan Rep. Jose De Venecia said the resolution says “nothing,” which makes it dangerous.

“What is the message of this resolution? Nothing. It is not saying that we seek parliamentary government. It is not saying that we seek a federal form of government. It does not say that we seek a French parliamentary system. It says nothing, Mr. Speaker,” De Venecia said.

“It merely tries to create a situation so that a member of the House, or lawyers, could go to the Supreme Court, which will then allow members of this House to revise the Constitution as long as a three-fourths vote is achieved. For this reason, I strongly object and I ask each and every member of this House if we are true to ourselves, to the people, and to the country to opposed this charade,” De Venecia said.

Joint or separate voting

HR 1109 reads: “Now, therefore, be it resolved that the members of Congress be convened for the purpose of proposing amendments to, or revision of the Constitution upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members and that upon its being convened shall adopt its rules of procedures that shall govern its proceeding.”

The 1987 Constitution reads: “Any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by: (1) The Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members; or (2) a constitutional convention.”

HR 1109 says the 1987 Constitution deleted the phrases “in joint session assembled” and “the Senate and the House of Representatives, voting separately,” which were present in the 1935 Constitution.

Therefore, the resolution says, “three-fourths of all members of Congress” means “3/4 of the Congressmen and Senators taken together in the calculation of 3/4 of the members of Congress, without distinction as to which institution of Congress they belong to.”

This effectively empowers the 270-member House of Representatives to bypass the 23-member Senate, which last year passed a resolution opposing the convening of a Constituent Assembly.

The senators prefer the Constitutional Convention mode to amending the charter.

Trust basis

HR 1109 provides limitations on what the constituent assembly can pass. It states that the term of office of the President and other elected officials cannot be extended, and that there will be elections in 2010.

But when asked if these provisions will be respected by the constituent assembly, Ortega said, “It’s a trust basis. I can assure you of my pledge. But I cannot speak for the others. You have to ask them.”

When asked if the 2010 elections could be postponed by the constituent assembly, Rep. Barzaga Jr. said, “Everything is possible. It depends upon the wisdom of the constituent assembly.”

Following the approval of HR 1109, militant group Bayan called for a nationwide protest on Wednesday afternoon. Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said they will be at the House of Representatives at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

“With the railroading of the Con-Ass resolution, we are calling on the people to express their utmost indignation through nationwide protest actions. More protesters will come as the Arroyo regime shameless pushed the self-serving Cha-cha,” he said.

SOURCE: ABS-CBN NEWS Online, June 2, 2009