Senate divided on Charter change

MANILA, Philippines - While the House of Representatives appears to be bent on pursuing Charter change (Cha-cha) based on the pronouncements of its leaders, the same cannot be said for the Senate, where the issue is still up in the air.

A number of senators are viewing the proposals to amend the Constitution with keen interest, although their ideas do not necessarily jibe with what their counterparts in the House are proposing.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has revived his proposal to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution, something which was concurred with by majority leader Neptali Gonzales II and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III has aired his support to moves to amend the Constitution, but rather than focusing on the economic provisions alone as suggested by the House leaders, he said that the political provisions should also be revisited.

“Yes, I’m open to Cha-cha but focusing on a review of the political provisions, not only economic,” Pimentel said.

Just like his father, former Senate president Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Senator Pimentel is pushing for a shift in the form of government to federalism.

Just like Pimentel, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV sees other provisions of the Constitution that need to be revisited apart from the economic provisions.

“Yes, I am for amending the Constitution. It is very necessary given the global demands and it should be done, if not during the remainder of P-Noy’s term, definitely during the early part of the next administration,” Trillanes said.

He said that he has a number of proposed amendments in mind, including the removal of the provision subjecting officers of the Armed Forces to the confirmation process of the Commission on Appointments and opening of the restrictive sabotage provisions.

“However, my preferred route would be a per amendment basis and not wholesale. That way, every proposed amendment can be scrutinized more carefully and the public would know what they are approving,” Trillanes said.

Acting Senate President Jinggoy Estrada believes that it is time for the economic provisions of the Constitution to be amended, considering that it was crafted more than two decades ago.

However, he said that any move to amend the Constitution must not touch on term limits of national officials.

His brother, newly elected Sen. JV Ejercito, has also aired his support to amending the Constitution, especially the economic provisions.

“The Constitution was written in 1987 when there was no such thing as globalization, internet and worldwide web. The Constitution has to be attuned to the changing times,” he said.

Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara said he is open to hearing the different proposals to amend the Constitution.

“We would like to see the concrete proposals since amendments to the Constitution can span a wide array of topics. If there are amendments that will help improve the unemployment situation, then I think we should remain open to such proposals, as constitutions must be stable but not set in stone,” Angara said.

“As to whether it is time for overhauling systems or forms of government, that remains to be seen,” he added.

Meanwhile, President Aquino’s cousin, Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, said he is also willing to listen to the proposals but does not believe that this is the proper time to pursue Charter change.

“I’m open to listen to their suggestions, but currently, I stand by what I stated during the campaign, which is that Charter change is best done after more years of inclusive growth happening alongside our high economic performance,” said Aquino.

President Aquino has remained lukewarm to proposals to amend the Constitution during his term because he has yet to be convinced that this needs to be done right away.

Without the support of the President, Estrada said that any effort to amend the Constitution would face rough sailing.

Sen. Francis Escudero said that the timing is not right for Charter change, especially because the President is in the last three years of his administration and would rather focus on his priorities.

Sen. Vicente Sotto III, for his part, said that he would rather watch from the sidelines as the supporters and opponents of Charter change from the two branches of government slug it out.

Cha-cha summit

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone has called for a summit of leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives in the 16th Congress on proposals to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Evardone said a summit of Speaker Belmonte and incoming Senate President Franklin Drilon and other leaders of the two chambers would allow members of Congress to plan their next course of action on drafting proposed amendments.

“We have to set a clear direction the soonest possible time. Members of Congress can determine this by calling a Charter change summit by leaders of Congress,” Evardone said. – With Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica