Union of local officials lauds CBCP position on people’s initiative

The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) lauded yesterday the stand adopted by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), which said it will let the courts decide on the legitimacy of the people’s initiative to amend the Constitution.

ULAP, in a statement, also said that it is planning to seek a dialogue with the CBCP and invite the bishops to take part in the ULAP-led consultation on the proposed Charter change.

Nueva Ecija Gov. Tomas Joson II, acting president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), hailed the CBCP’s decision.

"This pensive call by our revered Catholic bishops presents a sober perspective to the great debate on Charter change in the face of the incessant maneuvers by the opposition to muddle the issue of constitutional reforms with calumnies and deceitful innuendoes," he said.

Aside from these developments, ULAP reported that the Bangsamoro Party and over 1,000 officials of the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas (LBP) in Batangas also declared their full support for constitutional reforms in separate fora held in Manila.

Sigaw ng Bayan spokesman Raul Lambino, meanwhile, hailed decisions by the lower courts in Iloilo City and Quezon City to junk the petitions of anti-Charter change advocates.

Joson said ULAP plans to seek a dialogue with the CBCP "in the hope of setting the ongoing signature drive and consultative meetings in the proper perspective — and correct misperceptions like the No-El (no elections) scenario that opposition leaders have been foisting upon our people in a desperate bid to frustrate the popular will on Charter change."

He expressed the hope that CBCP members would take an active part in the ULAP-led consultative meetings, which were launched last Thursday in Bohol and Occidental Mindoro.

ULAP president Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado said the "provincial summits" in Bohol and Occidental Mindoro will be replicated at the municipal and barangay levels all over the country.

Bangsamoro chairman Firdausi Abbas said his party, which has been advocating constitutional reforms since 2000, finds the current Charter to be "the most defective Constitution drafted in the country."

Some 1,078 barangay officials led by LBP president for Batangas Manolo Maloles Jr. also supported Abbas’ contention.

ULAP vice president for Mindanao and chairman of the Provincial Board Members League of the Philippines Allan Zulueta, said the Liga gathering "also forms part of the campaign by local government officials to educate the public on the merits of a unicameral parliamentary system."

In Tagbilaran, some 5,000 participants who trooped to the Tagbilaran Cultural Center reached a consensus to back constitutional reforms.

Bohol Reps. Roberto Cajes, Edgar Chatto and Eladio Jala and former governor David Tirol also declared their support for the people’s initiative.

In the capital town of Mamburao in Occidental Mindoro, Gov. Josephine Sato claimed that some 250 local officials, non-government organizations and leaders of the Mangyan tribal community also backed calls for constitutional reforms during a recent forum at the Provincial Training Center.

Meanwhile, Speaker Jose de Venecia said recently that the people’s initiative to amend the Constitution and pave the way for a shift to a parliamentary system of government "is now far advanced."

Talking to local journalists in his Bonuan Binloc residence in Dagupan City the other night, De Venecia said when Congress reconvenes on May 15, "maybe by that time, the people’s initiative would have gone even much farther."

But he added he believes that by May 15 he and other pro- administration congressmen will finalize their signature-gathering in the House of Representatives.

De Venecia, who had been advocating Charter change (Cha-cha), said he thinks the people’s initiative and moves to convene Congress into a constituent assembly are "running neck and neck."

Pro-administration congressmen have gathered 184 signatures from the 226-member House. De Venecia said their target is 196 to 200 signatures.

The people’s initiative campaign, spearheaded by Sigaw ng Bayan Movement, has gathered 8.5 million signatures nationwide, way beyond the requirement imposed by the Constitution.

By law, the gathered signatures should represent 12 percent of the total number of voters nationwide and at least three percent of voters in each legislative district.

Based on reports reaching him, De Venecia said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has verified more than 70 percent of the gathered signatures.

After the verification of signatures, the Comelec will set a date for the campaign period, during which there would be the interchange of views and data on the advantages and disadvantages of Cha-cha, and a date for the plebiscite.

"The pros and the antis will now come to the fore, marshal their best arguments before the people so there will be full transparency and full debate," De Venecia said.

He said their proposal is very clear — a unicameral, parliamentary government and an eventual movement towards strong autonomous provinces leading to federalization.

"Now let the antis present their vision. If they don’t like the parliamentary system, what is their defense of the presidential system? If they don’t like the unicameral parliament, let them defend the bicameral system," De Venecia said.

He pointed out that the presidential, bicameral system has not worked for the country.

"If they don’t like the federal system, then they should say why they are for a strong central government at the expense of the regions, the provinces and the outer islands," De Venecia said.

He also said that if those against Charter change "don’t like our proposal for a strong wave of major flow of foreign investments so that we can create thousands of factories and create millions of jobs, so that we can create our own economic miracle like China, Singapore, and Malaysia, then they should say that they should ban foreign investments or they should limit foreign investments."

De Venecia lauded President Arroyo for her statesmanship when she agreed to share her political power with the prime minister and with the parliament once Cha-cha pushes through.

But De Venecia said he still prefers the constituent assembly mode, wherein lawmakers can put together seven to eight strategic amendments to the Constitution along with the French modified model earlier approved by the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats party and other major political parties.

In the people’s initiative, only one subject matter — the shift from a presidential system to a unicameral parliamentary system and transitory provisions to implement them — will be tackled, he said.

The Arroyo administration is pushing for Charter change to shift the form of government to a unicameral parliamentary system and lift restrictive economic provisions that prevent the entry of more foreign investments as well as implementing judicial and electoral reforms.

Senators and congressmen, however, are quarreling over the mode of amending the Charter. The 226-member House is pushing for the convening of a constituent assembly with both chambers voting jointly, a move strongly opposed by senators as they would be outnumbered. — With Eva Visperas, Catherine Leyco, Anna Katrina Lim