Nograles sets June 6 House deadline for Charter change

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Prospero Nograles set yesterday a two-month deadline after which he and his colleagues would abandon their Charter change (Cha-cha) initiative.

Speaking to reporters, Nograles said between April 13, when Congress returns to work, and June 6, when it adjourns its second regular session, he would be pushing for Cha-cha.

“We will debate this on the floor and go through the process,” he said.

“If by June 6 wala pang nangyayari dyan (nothing happens), I will concede that it will be too late to pursue it.”

Nograles said by that time, he would consider supporting proposals for electing a constitutional convention to propose changes to the Constitution.

The final decision on Cha-cha rests with his colleagues, whom he would consult in an all-party caucus, he added.

As for the still-to-be-filed resolution asking the Senate and the House to convene as a constituent assembly (con-ass) to do Cha-cha, Nograles said he would ask its principal author, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, what to do with it.

Villafuerte, who is president of President Arroyo’s Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) party, has entrusted the resolution to Nograles after he and other Kampi leaders failed to gather 197 signatures to bypass the Senate on Cha-cha.

Administration critics fear that if Mrs. Arroyo’s allies succeed in convening as a con-ass, they would subject the entire Constitution to amendments, scrap next year’s elections and extend their stay in office beyond June 30, 2010.

On Wednesday, Villafuerte said the House has run out of time for Cha-cha since the nation is now feverishly preparing for the combined presidential, congressional and local elections in May next year.

He blamed Nograles for allegedly “muddling” the Cha-cha and con-ass issues by filing Resolution 737 without the House first resolving what Cha-cha mode to follow.

He claimed that the Speaker “put the cart before the horse.”

Resolution 737 seeks to change certain economic provisions of the Constitution to relax foreign ownership of land and certain businesses to entice more foreigners to invest here.

According to Nograles and Majority Leader Arthur Defensor, the resolution would go through the same process as bills – meaning the legislative process – and not con-ass.

The two said the measure, just like a bill, would be sent to the Senate after the House approves it. The process is acceptable to senators, since it involves them. Villafuerte’s House-only con-ass is certainly not.

Several senators have also expressed support for Nograles’ proposed economic amendments.

Asked about Villafuerte’s finger-pointing, Nograles said sarcastically, “Anything that goes wrong in the House, I get the blame. As Speaker, I accept responsibility. The buck stops with me.”

He said he would leave it to Defensor what to do with his Resolution 737 after June 6.

He said the majority has the option of pursuing their preferred path for his proposed economic amendments – which is through the legislative process.

According to Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, the legislative process could be a viable route for Cha-cha.

It was through this mode that the United States Congress had introduced more than 20 changes in the American Constitution, he said.