Constituent assembly is best Cha-cha option — Barbers

Converting Congress into a constituent assembly (con-ass) remains the best, fastest and inexpensive option for Charter change (Cha-cha), Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said yesterday.

He said unlike the people’s initiative mode, there is no constitutional or legal question that opponents of Cha-cha can raise against the Senate and the House convening as a con-ass to propose Charter amendments.

He said many sectors, including senators, who see the need for amendments are beginning to realize that a con-ass is the best Cha-cha mode.

He noted that El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde and former Supreme Court Justice Vicente Mendoza have endorsed the convening of Congress into a constituent assembly.

Several senators are also for con-ass provided that the two chambers vote separately on proposed Charter reforms, he added.

If there is agreement on the part of the Senate and the House to convene as a constituent assembly, Barbers, who belongs to the ruling Lakas party, suggested that leaders of the chamber discuss the "ground rules."

"There should not be any disagreement on these rules. The focus should be on the need to rewrite the Constitution so the country can move forward," he said.

In the case of the people’s initiative, the Surigao lawmaker said it would soon be mired in legal controversies.

"First, there is the matter of the 1997 Supreme Court ruling that the law on the system of referendum and initiative is insufficient. Even if that obstacle were removed, there is still the question of whether the changes sought to be effected through a people’s initiative are a simple amendment or a revision," he said.

He added that these legal issues won’t hound a constituent assembly.

Another Lakas congressman, Benjamin Abalos Jr. of Mandaluyong, proposed that congressmen and senators ban themselves from running in the first election under the envisioned new Constitution.

Abalos said with such a self-imposed ban, lawmakers would be able to convince the people that they are rewriting the Constitution "for the good of the nation, not for our own good."

"As of now, the public suspects that we are motivated by self-interest, that we are out to extend our terms and perpetuate ourselves in office. Let us have that self-imposed ban to change that perception," he said.

He suggested that former presidents should also be banned from seeking seats in parliament to give younger politicians a chance.