Nograles: Halting Charter change up to solons

MANILA, Philippines—Backing out of the House resolution calling for a constituent assembly (Con-ass) in deference to the wishes of former President Corazon Aquino would be up to each of the 180 lawmakers who signed the controversial measure, Speaker Prospero Nograles said Monday.

In other words, it’s out of his hands, indicated Nograles, who was reacting to calls made by Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin and acting executive secretary Gabriel Claudio to abandon the efforts in the House of Representatives to amend the Constitution at this time.
Nograles said Locsin’s and Claudio’s calls would be considered, but he could not tell his colleagues what to do.

“In the first place, neither the House leadership nor Malacañang forced them to sign the measure,” he said.

“It’s not for the leadership to dictate on the authors and co-authors how to treat the resolution or if they feel that Cory’s death significantly comes into play here. It’s a personal choice for each one,” Nograles said in a statement.

Another proponent of the resolution, Nueva Ecija Rep. Rodolfo Antonino, said he was willing to defer making amendments to the Constitution until after the 2010 elections, but would still want to push the measure through just to trigger a Supreme Court case to clarify the issue.

Antonino said the intent of House Resolution 1109 is only to get the high court to interpret how a constituent assembly should work—whether the House and the Senate should vote jointly or separately in proposing amendments to the Charter.

“Of course we’d like to respect the wishes of Cory. As far as 1109 is concerned, however, its objective is to clarify the ambiguity in the Constitution, not really to propose amendments,” Antonino said in a phone interview.

Antonino said it was his personal view that amending the Constitution should not be done before the 2010 polls. He also said he would study how to limit HR 1109 so that it would be clear that it is only meant to trigger a Supreme Court case.

Clarify the mode

“If we can limit the resolution in order that we can clarify the mode and ambiguity of the Constitution, we can proceed with that,” he said.

He also said it was vital to get the Supreme Court to clarify the issue because debates on how to convene a constituent assembly would surely come up in the next Congress.

His own position is that the House alone could propose amendments to the Constitution as long as it musters enough votes to constitute three-fourths of the entire Congress.

Other proponents of HR 1109, however, believe the Senate has to be part of the process.

The Senate is against amending the Constitution before the 2010 elections and insists that any voting on proposals should be done separately.

Another HR 1109 proponent, Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, said he did not want to talk about Charter change during this time when the country is mourning Aquino’s death.

“Let’s defer its discussion,” Barzaga said in a phone interview.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño said that if the House really wanted to honor Aquino, its members should heed her call to put off moves to amend the constitution.

Best tribute to Cory

“I think the best tribute the House can give Cory is to heed her call to put an end to Cha-cha ... What would our speeches, our words amount to if we do not follow the wisdom of the one we are honoring,” Casiño said.

Bohol Vice Gov. Julius Caesar Herrera Monday called on the three Boholano congressmen to honor Aquino by withdrawing their signatures from HR 1109.

Representatives Edgar Chatto (1st district), Roberto Cajes (2nd district) and Adam Relson Jala (3rd district) were signatories to the controversial House measure.

Herrera said he hoped that more congressmen who signed the bill would do the same.

“It would be great if we bury Con-ass while the entire nation is in mourning,” he said.

HR 1109 has threatened to split the Lakas leadership in Bohol.

“The best reassurance is for the supporters of the bill to withdraw their signatures,” he added.

Herrera warned those who refuse to abandon Con-ass of the people’s wrath.

“What we see now is nothing compared to what will unfold after the burial of President Cory,” he said. With a report by Chito Fuentes, Inquirer Visayas

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