Congressmen buck con-con, insist on constituent assembly

The move to amend the 1987 Constitution is still a matter of debate rather than action.

House leaders yesterday said they will not support the efforts of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. in pushing for a constitutional convention (con-con) because this mode of amending the Charter is too costly and will do more harm than good.

Mrs. Arroyo has reiterated her preference for the establishment of a parliamentary-federal form of government to replace the presidential system.

Speaking before a forum organized by Kilosbayan at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City, the President said the Philippines is the only country left in Southeast Asia with a presidential system of government.

She said the presidential system is holding the Philippines back.

"Under the presidential form (of government), if the opinions of the President and Congress differ, the lawmaking process is slowed down," she said.

A parliamentary form of government, she said, will allow for real-time decision-making.

She has decided to relocate the headquarters of the Department of Agriculture to Mindanao, as part of her goal of establishing a parliamentary-federal system through Charter change.

De Venecia, for his part, challenged the Senate to immediately pass a con-con resolution, saying the House of Representatives would fully concur with the smaller chamber’s version if only to speed up moves to amend the Charter.

The Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan All-Filipino Democratic Movement (KA-AKBAY) national chairman Alain Pascua and a member of the People’s Will for Empowerment, Development and Equality thru Constitutional Convention 2004 (PWEDE CONCON 2004) is supportive of the move to push for Charter change via Concon.

"We cannot afford to gamble the amendments of the Constitution to trapos (traditional politicians)," Pascua said. "The welfare of our country, the people and the citizens of the next generation should be the highest priority and not the interest of certain individuals and families who have (wreaked) havoc (on) the economy by circumnavigating the law."

The con-con delegates, he said, should come from 20 sectors: professionals, business, entrepreneurs, migrant and overseas workers, formal labor, government workers, transportation workers, informal labor, urban poor, women and children, youth and students, senior citizens and veterans, persons with disabilities, fisherfolk, farmers and landless rural workers, the academe and education, sports, entertainment, culture, gay and lesbians and the indigenous peoples.

Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Maranon, head of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) contingent in the House, and Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House committee on accounts, said De Venecia cannot disregard the resolution filed by 187 lawmakers last year calling for constitutional amendment by convening Congress into a constituent assembly.

"Con-con will take years to finish the job and, thus, would entail billions of pesos in budget allocation," Barber said. "Where will we get the money to finance this undertaking."

"(House) Resolution (No. 16) filed by no less than 187 congressmen certainly carries a lot of weight and it should not be brushed aside simply because it did not gain ground in the Senate," he said.

Barbers is one of De Venecia’s and Maranon’s staunchest allies and has long been advocating a shift to a unicameral parliamentary system through a constituent assembly. The NPC is allied with the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) coalition.

"Congress can do the job without the need for additional budget," Barbers said. "Why insist on a mode that the country cannot afford?"

Maranon, a veteran lawmaker, said the con-con mode would expose the Constitution to "wholesale revision" when the only reason for amending the Charter is to effect a shift to a unicameral parliamentary government with a fixed transition to a federal system of government.

He said that the elected con-con delegates are free to propose any amendment they want and debate on each proposition for a long time. Thus, he said, the con-con can perpetuate its existence for years without accomplishing anything — as was the case in the 1971 con-con called by the late dictator Ferdinand Marocs.

"They debated over periods and commas and martial law caught up with them," Maranon said.

Maranon also warned that political second-stringers and has-beens will be elected to the con-con as delegates.

"A constituent assembly remains to be the best mode in amending the Charter," Barbers said.

De Venecia said Senate President Franklin Drilon refused to support a similar resolution for a constituent assembly filed by Senators Edgardo Angara and Robert Barbers and pushed instead for a con-con.

He said the House will immediately approve the Senate version just to speed up moves to amend the Charter.

De Venecia said the President promised she would sign the Con-con bill in 24 hours if it reaches her table.

"This only shows that (the President) is not grasping for power," Maranon said. "She is willing to sacrifice and set an example for Philippine and Asian parliamentary democracy."

Meanwhile, a coalition of 250 people’s and sectoral organizations called the Kilusan ng Mamamayan Para sa Matatag na Republika (KMMR) pledged to back Mrs. Arroyo in the May national elections, but said it wants the move to amend the Constitution put on the back burner.

The KMMR has begun nationwide consultations to create a "people’s platform," which they plan to submit to the President at the Edsa II celebration on Jan. 21.

At a press conference, the KMMR said it believes the President is the most suitable person to run the country, noting her intellect and experience.

Despite their support for the President, the KMMR also said it opposes any proposal that the selection Con-con delegates be made simultaneous with the national elections on May 10.

While the KMMR said it supports moves to amend the Constitution, they said it would be unwise to hold the election of con-con delegates along with the national polls.

To do so, the KMMR said, would be contrary to the existing constitutional provisions mandating the holding of scheduled elections.

They also assailed what they branded as the emerging political pragmatism and political opportunism, citing the united opposition’s tandem of actor Fernando Poe Jr. and Sen. Loren Legarda as an example.

The KMMR said candidates must have a "realizable, doable platform as an antidote against populism and waylaid opportunism."

Mrs. Arroyo and her vice-presidential candidate, Sen. Noli de Castro, are running under the administration’s Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karapatan sa Kinabukasan (K-4) ticket.

"This people’s platform will complement the president and K-4’s electoral campaign and it will anchor its advocacies on the latter’s sectoral issues and concerns that will definitely boost the President’s electoral support from the marginalized," KMMR spokesman RJ Javellana said.

Javellana said the KMMR is confident the President will accept and use the people’s platform in her campaign.

This platform, he said, will include the concerns of several sectoral organizations regarding housing, land tenure, the controversial coconut levy, ill-gotten wealth, jobs, education, health, peace, justice and good governance.

"The people’s platform is our initiative," said Poneng Tolentino of the Urban Land Reform Task Force (ULRTF), one of the organizations that convened the KMMR.

If she wins the presidential race, Mrs. Arroyo said she intends to heighten the government’s war on illegal drugs and terrorism, raise the salaries of police and military personnel. She also intends to create more jobs.

The President said she will support a program that will enable farmers to use their land as collateral for loans and establish micro-credit facilities in every barangay. — With reports from Katherine Adraneda, Jose Rodel Clapano, Mike Frialde