Bro. Mike brokering Cha-cha compromise between Senate, House

El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde is trying to patch up differences between the Senate and the House of Representatives on Charter change (Cha-cha) by brokering a compromise.

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. told reporters yesterday that it was Velarde who proposed to him that the House allocate 34 regional seats for senators in the planned unicameral parliament.

"Bro. Mike informed me that the proposal came from senators themselves," he said.

De Venecia broached the idea last weekend and Malacañang expressed support for it, but senators are not biting.

Except for those that the Speaker has been mentioning, all the senators are opposed to Cha-cha. The five who, according to De Venecia, are supportive of Cha-cha now are Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Edgardo Angara, Juan Ponce Enrile, Lito Lapid and Ramon Revilla Jr.

The Speaker said senators should make up their mind.

If they really want regional seats in parliament, then they should attend the sessions that the House plans to convene beginning next week to tackle amendments to the Constitution, he said.

Earlier, he said congressmen do not want to bypass senators on Cha-cha.

"In fact, we are inviting them to join us so we can sit together to propose constitutional amendments," he said.

If senators don’t show up, the House intends to approve its version of the revised Charter before Dec. 15.

Effectively, the House will devote only six session days to such an important undertaking, Minority Leader Francis Escudero told reporters.

"We hold sessions only from Monday through Wednesday. If you take out Mondays, which are devoted to privilege speeches, they will mangle the Constitution, which is the basic law of the land, in four days," he said.

The unicameral parliament that De Venecia and his colleagues plan to create to replace the present two-chamber Congress would be composed of members elected from congressional districts, much like the representation in the House.