Cebu solon says he’ll drop Con-ass

MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Pablo Garcia said Thursday he would rather drop a move to amend the Constitution via a constituent assembly (Con-ass) if it does not have the support of the Senate.

The Cebu lawmaker said he did not wish House Resolution 1109 to be an issue against the administration and its allies during the upcoming elections.

Critics would use the Charter change (Cha-cha) measure to justify calls for protests against Malacañang and the House of Representatives.

The motion to transmit HR 1109 to the Senate will be taken up again next week.

“I will press for it because I want to protect this House ... This will be an election issue. They will be demonstrating again against Cha-cha, against the administration prolonging the term. Even people who know that nothing will happen will always want that this will hang,” Garcia told reporters.

Besides, revising the Charter through a constitutional convention is a more feasible option, he said.

Condemned and crucified

In a privilege speech Tuesday, Garcia called for decisive action on the resolution and put an end to the controversy because the House was being “castigated, condemned and crucified.”

He also stood pat on his belief that the House needed the Senate to propose changes to the Constitution, in contrast to the stand of others who insisted that the House could gather the necessary three-fourths vote to pass amendments.

Garcia was one of the sponsors of the resolution and his stand surprised supporters of the move.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga said the transmittal of HR 1109 to the Senate would be its death.

House ‘demonized’

Barzaga added that bringing the case to the Senate would kill the position that the House alone could revise the Constitution for as long as it has the numbers. Without this argument, there could be no Supreme Court case to clarify Con-ass procedures, he added.

“I am doing this for Malacañang. Who is being attacked while this is hanging?” he said. He also pointed out that the House was likewise being “demonized.”

He agreed with Barzaga that sending the resolution to the Senate would mean its end.

“That is true because that’s the prerogative of the Senate. We cannot do it alone, only Congress can propose changes ... Of course, it will not act on it, that’s their call from the beginning,” he said.

Garcia said that those who would vote against sending the resolution to the Senate would face more demonstrations from an angry public.

‘Suicidal’

He disagreed with the declared intention of HR 1109 proponents that they only want to trigger a Supreme Court ruling on Con-ass.

“No, that’s dangerous, that’s suicidal for us because I know the Supreme Court will just declare that we cannot do it,” he said.

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