Con-con will need one year to amend Charter — Drilon

Senate President Franklin Drilon said amendments to the Constitution should be given at least a year to work on by a constitutional convention and not by a constituent assembly.

He said giving a constitutional convention a year was reasonable as "we simply do not have the time" to make amendments to the 1987 Charter before the elections in May next year.

Sen. Edgardo Angara and Sen. Robert Barbers filed a resolution in January calling for Congress to convene into a constituent assembly and pass amendments.

The House of Representatives passed a similar measure in March proposing a shift in the form of government from presidential to parliamentary with a unicameral legislature. A federal system would be adopted after 10 years.

House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., who’s spearheading the latest Charter change initiative, said changing the current form of government would remove gridlocks and speed up economic reforms and development.

However, the Senate must pass its counterpart resolution for Congress to convene into a constituent assembly.

Drilon and key Senate leaders disagree with the House on when and how to introduce constitutional amendments. They said changes should be made after the 2004 elections and through a constitutional convention.

Amending the Constitution through a constituent assembly would be viewed with suspicion by a public wary of politicians who want to abuse their stay in public office, they said.

Angara, who heads the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, said his panel would likely vote on Monday on the resolution.

He said a constituent assembly was the least expensive and the most expeditious method of amending the Charter. A convention, he added, would cost taxpayers at least P6 billion to elect delegates and fund its operations.

Drilon argued that amendments require a lot of debate.

"Giving a constitutional convention a year to do everything could not be unreasonable. And I believe there is nothing in our system which could prohibit Congress from proposing a limit to the life of a constitutional convention," Drilon said in ANC’s "Online" talk show late Tuesday.

As for the cost of forming a constitutional convention, he said: "That’s the cost of a democratic system. To me, we should not place a price tag on this exercise as we do not place a price tag on our election exercises."

Article 17 of the 1987 Constitution provides three ways for making amendments: through a constitutional assembly, a constitutional convention or a people’s initiative.

In a constituent assembly, the legislature would propose amendments. In a constitutional convention, delegates elected by the people would make the amendments. In a people’s initiative, at least 12 percent of the electorate may propose changes through a petition.