House body OKs Charter change resolution

MANILA, Philippines— (UPDATE) The bid to elect delegates of a constitutional convention to amend the 1987 Constitution simultaneous with the 2010 national elections has hurdled the committee level after its members approved the proposal.

Voting 6-1, members of the committee on constitutional amendments approved the constitutional convention resolution that consolidated 12 versions of the measure, according to Quezon Representative Lorenzo Tañada III.

“To dispel fears of promoting any vested interests among the incumbent elected officials and to defray the cost of a separate election for delegates to the constitutional convention, its shall be conducted simultaneously with the May 10, 2010 national elections,” the resolution read.

“The process of amending the Constitution shall only take place thereafter,” it said.
"The 22-year-old 1987 Philippine Constitution contains certain provisions which have seemingly outlived their purpose that needs to be revisited to institute much needed socio-economic and political reforms."

During last week’s hearing, Commission on Elections commissioner Elias Yusoph said the poll body was against the simultaneous holding of the presidential election and the election of constitutional convention delegates as this would be “confusing” to the voters.

Tañada said the committee would discuss the resolution’s implementing guidelines in its next hearing on September 8.

Initially, he said the committee members proposed the election of one delegate per district. There was also a proposal to have six sectoral representatives in the constitutional convention to be elected per region.

Tanada said that after the guidelines have been crafted, the committee would submit a report to the plenary for deliberation.

The plenary earlier approved the controversial House Resolution 1109 seeking to convene a constituent assembly even without Senate’s participation, but House leaders are still in a quandary on what to do next with the measure.

The Senate has vowed to crush the move.

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