Comelec readying rules for Cha-cha plebiscite in 2007

Amid renewed efforts to amend the 1987 Constitution, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now readying rules for the holding of a plebiscite for a possible Charter change (Cha-cha).

Comelec Commissioner Resurreccion Borra said the poll body is "refining" the resolution providing for the conduct of a plebiscite to approve or reject proposed changes in the Constitution.

"We are now in the process of reactivating and refining resolution 2300 that would govern a plebiscite (on people’s initiative for Charter change)," Borra said.

Borra said the resolution was one of the issues discussed during their special en banc meeting yesterday.

The Comelec drafted the resolution when the first petition for a people’s initiative was filed before the poll body but it was implemented after the Supreme Court nullified the petition.

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. said the poll body is willing to entertain a petition for people’s initiative and is ready to undertake the plebiscite in time with the coming mid-term elections.

"The Comelec can now entertain a people’s initiative because there is an enabling law on such exercise," Abalos said.

"If there is a request, we will accept it and study (it)," he said. "We are ready for a possible plebiscite."

But he also said a petition will not be complete without signatures and verification.

If all the requirements are complied with and the people’s initiative is approved prior to the printing of ballots the plebiscite can be held in time with next year’s polls, Abalos said.

The executive committee of the Centrist Democrats International, which represents 110 political parties across the globe, has unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the Philippines’ proposed shift to a parliamentary form of government.

In its recent convention in Spain, the CDI — one of the world’s most respected and influential political coalitions — said it is "supporting the government of the Republic of the Philippines in its efforts to achieve constitutional reform."

The resolution came after the government shelved its plans to effect changes in the 1987 Constitution via constituent assembly. Speaker Jose de Venecia has given assurance, however, that the third and last mode, constitutional convention, is still alive and awaiting Senate action.

Meanwhile, a constitutional convention is the most popular mode of introducing amendments to the Charter. It is a mode of Charter change that the Catholic Church, protestant bishops, business groups, non-government organizations (NGOs) and the Senate have not opposed.

The CDI resolution was one of several vital resolutions passed by the highest policy-making body of CDI, which has ruling parties and coalitions in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. De Venecia, president of the CDI Asia-Pacific, received a copy of the resolution.

CDI leaders lauded the government’s efforts to "bring about greater political stability and hasten economic development by shifting its system of government from the decades-old bicameral presidential to the unicameral parliamentary system."

The resolution represents a significant statement and moral support for Charter reform in the Philippines from one of the most influential political coalitions that have time and again dominated European politics with Christian ideals and thinking.

De Venecia said he was encouraged by the resolution’s major premise that countries in Europe and Asia have attained economic development under the parliamentary system of government with a unicameral parliament.

"We have argued time and again that the parliamentary system has been responsible for the economic success and political stability of the successful nations of Europe and mostly of Asia," De Venecia said.

Two initiatives to introduce amendments through a people’s initiative and constituent assembly have failed, but Charter change advocates remain undaunted, saying they are encouraged by the emerging national consensus to amend the Charter.

De Venecia said that a change in the hearts of men without a change in the system of government would not achieve the political and economic reforms that are vital to propel the Philippines to the status of Southeast Asia’s economic tigers.

The CDI Executive Committee said in its resolution that the parliamentary system "…eradicates gridlock and destructive politics and allows the rule of majority parties or coalitions based on a program of government."

The CDI leaders stressed that the process of amending a nation’s Constitution is normal in a functioning democracy.

The CDI resolution in full follows:

"Whereas, we live in an international community where progress and development have become attainable and achievable when countries work towards closer socio-economic, political and cultural cooperation;

"Whereas, governments of different nations — and of peoples and nationalities of different political persuasions — already have seen the need to encourage and support greater interaction between national economies and peoples;

"Whereas, countries across Europe, and most of Asia and Latin America, have long proved through experience that having a responsive and stable Constitution is needed to further enhance a country’s political, economic and social stability;

"Whereas, these countries have mostly attained economic development under the parliamentary system of government with a unicameral parliament — which eradicates gridlock and destructive politics and allows the rule of majority parties or coalitions based on a program of government;

"Whereas, the process of initiating, strengthening and institutionalizing reforms in a nation’s Constitution is a normal process;

"Whereas, the efforts of the Centrist Democratic Government of the Philippines in seeking and institutionalizing Constitutional reform reflects the firm commitment of the Republic of the Philippines to reform its Constitution in order to bring about greater political stability and hasten economic development by shifting its system of government from the decades-old bicameral presidential to the unicameral parliamentary government;

"RESOLVED by the Centrist Democrats International (CDI) Executive Committee, which represents 110 political parties worldwide, to adopt this Resolution of support and submit a copy of this Resolution to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines." — With Delon Porcalla