OPPOSITION congressmen are against the
senators' call for Charter change, saying this could be used by
President Arroyo as an "escape hatch" when her term ends in
2010.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros said
that after holding a meeting, the House minority bloc has
decided not support the House and the Senate's new Cha-cha
campaign. "In a straw vote, the sense of most opposition solons
is not to support talks between the Senate and House of
Representatives on Sen. (Aquilino) Pimentel's Charter change
proposal. The House minority will not participate in the
dialogue," she said.
Pimentel last April 28 filed Joint Senate
Resolution 10 which called for the convening of Congress into a
constituent assembly to revise the Constitution to establish a
federal government. The resolution was signed by Senate
President Manuel Villar, majority leader Francis Pangilinan,
Senate President pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Edgardo Angara,
Rodolfo Biazon, Pia Cayetano, Juan Ponce Enrile, Francis
Escudero, Gregorio Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Ramon Revilla Jr.
and Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Hontiveros, a deputy minority leader, said
that while the intention of the Senate "could be good, any form
of Cha-cha now could also give GMA an escape hatch after 2010.
"Constitutional amendments should be premised
on reforming the constitutional order and not on GMA's
survival," she said. "The danger has always been about how other
agenda could be inserted in the debate."
Hontiveros recalled that at the height of the
'Hello Garci' scandal, "the House majority rushed and tumbled"
to amend the Constitution to protect GMA. "While GMA is still in
power, any attempt to change the Constitution could easily be
tainted with the same insidious motivation," she said, insisting
that Cha-cha should not be discussed while Arroyo is still in
office. She said she also doubts if the public will support the
new initiative because of suspicions of Malacañang's real
intentions.
Hontiveros also warned that federalism would
be useless if political dynasties remain rampant. "Federalism
could turn into balkanization if local warlordism is not
dismantled. A federal system could also be ugly if combined with
an authoritarian central government," she said.
She said local democracy should be
strengthened first by making governance accessible before
embarking on a new system. "If local elections would still be
dominated by political clans that have been in power for ages,
then federalism would be for naught," she said.
Under the proposal, members of the Senate
will be elected by federal states while the members of the House
will continue to be elected by legislative districts. The
proposal calls for the election of six senators in each of the
11 component federal states that will be created, and nine
additional senators to represent overseas Filipinos. This will
expand Senate membership from the present 24 members to 75.
Congressmen will be limited to a maximum of 350 and will
serve for three years and a maximum of four terms while senators
will serve six years and two terms. - Wendell Vigilia
