Cha-cha impossible without no-el – House leader

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte’s allies in the House of Representatives would not be able to fulfill his wish to have a federal constitution within a nine-month timeline if next year’s elections are not scrapped, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas indicated yesterday.

“Precisely, the Speaker stated that for the HOR (House of Representatives) of the 17th Congress to come up with a proposed constitution, it could only do so without the distraction of the elections in less than 10 months from now,” he said in response to questions from The STAR.

He said it would be impossible for congressmen to write a new charter if the elections are held in May as scheduled under the present Constitution.

According to presidential spokesman Harry Roque, the President wants the envisioned federal charter to be finished in time for the May 2019 polls so that the plebiscite for its ratification could be held together with the balloting.

That gives Congress only nine months between August this year and April next year to complete its Charter change (Cha-cha) work, a timeframe Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Fariñas consider very tight.

That is why they are advocating a no-el scenario to give lawmakers more time to write a new constitution.

Though Duterte wants next year’s elections-cum-plebiscite to proceed, he would not stop his allies in Congress from scrapping the 2019 polls.

If the balloting is scuttled, the next voting would be done under the new charter in May 2022, with the terms of office of congressmen, local officials and 12 senators extended.

Within its nine-month Cha-cha deadline, Congress will tackle the proposed 2019 national budget and other priority measures, and go on recess for Halloween and Christmas, and the three-month election campaign starting in February.

In asserting that Cha-cha is impossible without no-el, Fariñas said congressmen and senators seeking reelection would file their certificates of candidacy (COCs) in October, “or barely three months from now.” 

“Long before the filing of COCs, those interested to run in the 2019 elections have been moving around their constituencies. Upon the filing of COCs, I seriously doubt if we will be able to maintain our perfect daily quorums. I might be the only one at the session by then, as I will not be running for any public office anymore,” he said.

He said Duterte’s consultative committee (Concom) on Charter change took five months to come up with a draft federal constitution.

“It had only 25 members and only needed a majority (51 percent) or 13 of its members to approve its report. The HOR has 293 members and it would need a vote of three-fourths (75 percent) or 220 of all its members to approve its report. Obviously, it would take it at least five months, which was the time it took the Concom,” he added.

Fariñas pointed out that the Concom chaired by retired chief justice Reynato Puno needed only 13 members for a quorum, “while the HOR needs at least 148 members.”

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano lll shared House leaders’ concerns on their tight schedule for Cha-cha and legislative work.

“We want to fulfill the President’s wish for a new constitution to be ready for ratification by the people in May, but that seems to be next to impossible, unless we rush it and railroad its approval, which we do not want to do,” he said.

He said under its present work calendar, there is not much time for Cha-cha.

“We will tackle the budget first, and in previous years, that took up to December before we adjourned for the holidays. Then, there is the election campaign, which starts in February,” he said.

In any case, he and his colleagues are ready for the May polls, he added.

In his text message to The STAR, Fariñas consistently referred to “HOR” and not Congress in relation to Cha-cha.

Alvarez and other House leaders have asserted that they could propose constitutional amendments without the participation of the Senate as long as they muster the needed three-fourths vote of all members of Congress.

That is not constitutionally possible, senators have countered.

The two chambers will collide not only on this issue but on the proposed scrapping of next year’s elections as well. Senators have vowed to fight Alvarez’s no-el scenario.

The President is expected to transmit the Concom draft to the House and the Senate shortly after his third State of the Nation Address tomorrow.

Puno pointed out yesterday that the House and Senate could not be convened into a constituent assembly (con-ass) tomorrow. 

In a federalism forum, Puno said that a con-ass cannot be done on Duterte’s SONA unlike what former Senate president Manny Villar did during the impeachment trial against former president Joseph Estrada. 

He, however, did not explain further rearding con-ass, saying that he does not want to get involved in any political discussions.  

Puno said that critics of the envisioned federal government of the administration are only peddling “false news” about the reported con-ass on Duterte’s SONA to sow confusion over Charter change. 

Puno added that there is no truth about the con-ass as he is banking on the assurance of the congressmen who repeatedly denied last week that it will not happen. 

As far as Puno is concerned, he said that the existence of the con-ass issue is only a “dirty tactic” of those who oppose Charter change. 

Puno was also the guest speaker during the launching of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) at the Club Filipino in San Juan City yesterday morning, which was attended by Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte. 

In his speech, Puno said that the Concom is expecting Duterte to endorse the draft federal constitution tomorrow. 

Puno urged the Filipino people to ignore those who are criticizing the charter that they have drafted as they have worked hard in working on it to make it a perfect constitution. 

He reiterated that the Concom’s draft charter is the perfect model for a federal government as it addresses all the problems left unsolved by the 1987 Constitution.  – Jess Diaz, Robertzon Ramirez