‘Political Cha-cha dead in the House’

MANILA, Philippines - Any attempt to amend the Constitution to allow President Aquino to extend his term will not succeed in the House of Representatives, a leader of the chamber said yesterday.

The lawmaker, who is also an official of the ruling Liberal Party (LP), said Filipinos remain suspicious of any move to change the political provisions of the Constitution, particularly the term limits of the president and other elected officials.

“How many times were there attempts since the 1990s to amend the political provisions and lift term limits... not only did they not succeed, but there were many protests and cases against them,” the senior administration lawmaker, who declined to be named, said.

“This has no chance at all. There is no way this (lifting of term limits) will happen in the manner allowed by the Constitution, unless it will be done extra-constitutional or outside the Constitution,” the source said.

The LP has yet to come up with an official position on Aquino’s controversial pronouncements on Wednesday that he is open to seeking a second term.

LP stalwarts contacted by The STAR said there is no word yet on whether the party would come up with an official stand, considering that many of its members in the House remain cool to political Charter change.

“No signal at all from the top leaders,” an LP lawmaker said.

Other political parties allied with the administration have also yet to come out in support of political Charter change.

Administration lawmakers earlier warned that pushing for lifting of term limits would endanger efforts to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution. Resolution of Both Houses No. 1, which seeks to allow greater foreign ownership of certain industries, is now pending in the plenary.

Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza, in a statement, said any move to tinker with political provisions of the Constitution would not take off in the House because Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. himself had promised not to let the chamber touch those provisions.

“I don’t think Speaker Belmonte would be party to any effort that would destroy President Cory’s and our national hero Ninoy Aquino’s revered place in Philippine history,” Atienza said.

Six months ago, Atienza initiated the signing of a pledge among lawmakers that any amendment to the Constitution would be limited to economic provisions.

Signatories to the pledge had promised to resign if they support political changes in the Charter.

Some LP members were clueless about what the President was really up to.

“There appears to be a game plan in Malacañang but we still don’t know what it is,” an LP lawmaker said.

Other House members speculated that the President’s pronouncement was meant to help prop up the low ratings of party choice Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II.

“It’s possible the President was not really serious about having a second term but why float it? Is he trying to be cute?” a senior administration lawmaker said.

Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo of the LP said he would follow the party line once it makes a stand.

No marching orders

Malacañang’s legislative point man, meanwhile, said there are no marching orders for officials to coordinate with the House of Representatives and the Senate regarding Charter change and possible term extension, but stressed he sees no problem with Congress if such proposals are officially brought up before the chamber.

“Well, Cha-cha has always been identified as a priority bill of both Houses – meaning, the Senate and the House – although it was never included in the priority bills of the President. I haven’t received any marching orders on this,” Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Secretary Manuel Mamba Jr. said yesterday over dzRB.

He said that while there are other bills the Palace wants prioritized like the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, any proposal to extend Aquino’s term would be “doable” given the President’s popularity.

“Anyway, we are awaiting the Bangsamoro Basic Law, the draft bill and we are discussing this with both Houses. And, in fact, they are awaiting the arrival of the proposed bill itself so we could work on it already,” Mamba said.

“I think we have ample time for all of this because we anticipate that this will be a more productive year – the second regular year, legislative year for the 16th Congress,” he said, noting that the first legislative year was full of controversies.

But he expressed confidence that work with Congress would be easier this time, especially since they “practically” cannot be bothered by any opposition in the House.

“So in my view, it’s much, much easier to do all these things now,” Mamba said.

“I don’t find any problem, if and when, this (Cha-cha) is pushed – this is only personal to me – although, at this point in time, I did not get any inkling,” he said.

“The leadership of both Houses and, of course, the President have a very good relationship. At this point in time, I didn’t get any marching order on pushing the Cha-cha because this has been identified by both Houses...but not the Office of the President,” Mamba said.

“I would have known at this point in time if we will be pushing this. But as I said, the current relationship of both Houses with the executive is good. And I feel that if what needs to be passed is not controversial, then it will be easily passed,” Mamba said.

Popularity high

Mamba added the President’s popularity is still very high, especially among the grassroots.

“He is very popular as a politician, you can really feel it on the grassroots,” Mamba said.

The President’s popularity, he said, was boosted by numerous pro-poor programs including the conditional cash transfer program, infrastructure development, health services upgrade, improved benefits for government employees, including policemen.

“Rural health units are really being improved including provincial hospitals. (They are) being repaired and improved by the national government because of the sin taxes,” Mamba said.

“We have a very popular President and the popularity extends even in the farthest barangay because of the CCT, because of PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.),” he pointed out.

Almost all of the poorest residents of barangays who never had PhilHealth cards were now enjoying such benefit, he said.

“It is doable for the President to be extended or for the President to have a reelection, in my view – just my view – because (his popularity) is felt even in far-flung areas,” Mamba said.

For her part, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte reiterated over radio dzRB that Aquino’s statement on Cha-cha was in the context of judicial reform but that he gave no special instructions to congressional allies to have it carried out.

Valte said other important concerns like the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law were being attended to despite the talks on Cha-cha and term extension.

“The President is very much aware of the urgency and the timetable that we are trying to follow,” Valte said when asked for the deadline of the draft’s submission to Congress after it was forwarded by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front peace panels to the Office of the President for review on Aug. 18.

She said the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law must be scrutinized and promptly acted upon as a landmark legislation in anticipation of the filing of cases with the Supreme Court questioning the measure’s constitutionality.

“You can explore all of these possibilities. What I can speak about and what I can tell you about is the commitment of the current administration to peace,” Valte said. – Aurea Calica