‘Nothing to do with Senate presidency’

Sen. Edgardo Angara said yesterday that he is for a parliamentary-unicameral form of government as a matter of conviction, and has consistently pushed for this since the ’70s when he was a delegate to the constitutional convention.

"It has nothing to do with the Senate presidency, as my favorite newspaper had reported," he said in a press conference, referring to the headline story of The STAR yesterday.

At Malacañang, President Arroyo ignored yesterday fresh initiatives in the Senate to convene Congress into a constituent assembly to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that Mrs. Arroyo remains focused on her agenda of structural reform which she intends to implement in her remaining 17 months in office.

"The President is not very concerned about the issue. her primary focus is on her agenda of structural reform," Bunye said.

Bunye was reacting to the filing the other day by Angara and Sen. Robert Barbers of Concurrent Resolution No. 13 calling on Congress to convene into a constituent assembly to propose amendments to the Constitution.

Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, said that Barbers approached him two days ago about filing the resolution on constituent assembly.

"Bobby (Barbers) told me that we must have a choice in the Senate, that we must have a debate on the mode of amending the Constitution. It’s as simple as that. It has nothing to do with Malacañang or the Senate presidency," he stressed.

Angara has tried to wrest the Senate leadership from Senate President Franklin Drilon but immediately gave up upon realizing that he could not get the needed 13 votes. He has also given up any plan to run for president in 2004, and has reiterated his readiness for critical collaboration with the Arroyo administration.

"I have a track record of being a responsible fiscalizer. I authored the resolution on constituent assembly as a matter of conviction and not because of any selfish motives," he said. "I believe there is a need to amend the Constitution and that the best way to do it is through the House and the Senate constituting itself into a constituent assembly.

An earlier resolution filed by 14 senators led by Drilon called for the amendment of the Constitution through a constitutional convention, whose delegates would be elected simultaneous with the general elections in May 2004.

A recent survey by the Social Weather Stations said about 40 percent of the respondents are against amending the Constitution at this time. Angara, however, said the survey should not prevent Congress from debating on the need to amend the Charter.

"Another SWS survey showed that only seven percent of the respondents know anything about the Constitution. Since very few know about the Constitution, it is no wonder that they do not like or do not care about amending it," he added.

He blamed the present disposition against debating constitutional issues as the main reason for this "ignorance" of the Constitution.

"Very few know the Constitution because we have adopted the view not to debate about ideas. Thus, the level of awareness of our people is horribly low," he added.

He maintained that contrary to some beliefs, a constitutional convention is not actually devoid of politicking.

"I should know – I’ve been there," he said. "It is also more costly and would consume more time. If the entire Constitution is opened for review, it will really take the Con-con a long time to finish its work."

Angara said a constituent assembly is preferable to a Con-con because it could confine the change to target key provisions to address the weaknesses of the current Constitution.

He stressed that while he is for a shift to a parliamentary-unicameral form of government, he is against implementing such a shift before 2004.

"Implementation of a shift is disruptive. If it is implemented before 2004, then the election would be suspended, and I don’t want it to be suspended. There should be a transition period before a shift is implemented," he explained.

In 1990, Angara filed Senate Joint Resolution No. 6 calling for a constituent assembly for the adoption of a unicameral form of legislature in the country. The Senate committee on constitutional amendments then headed by Sen. Jose Lina, recommended through report No. 1136 the convening of a constituent assembly to establish a parliamentary form of government and a unicameral form of legislature. That was the closest the Senate ever got to considering Charter change, until now.

Angara admitted that in the Senate, a Con-con appeared to be the more popular mode of amending the Constitution. He said that with the House pressing for a constituent assembly, the mode would have to be resolved by a bicameral committee.

Earlier, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said that congressmen are willing to have a working draft be prepared by private individuals just to convince some sectors that congressmen have no hidden or selfish agenda in pushing for a constituent assembly.

De Venecia has also publicly disavowed any interest in running for president or prime minister should a parliamentary government be in place. — With Jose Rodel Clapano