CONGRESS must push for constitutional amendments now because the initiative dies a natural death when it reaches the midterm elections, one of the proponents of Charter change in the House of Representatives yesterday said.
“Kapag pinalipas pa natin ‘to ng midterm (polls), ‘di matutuloy (If we allow this to reach past the midterm elections, it will no longer prosper),” Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte told a radio interview,
Villafuerte, who has filed a measure calling for the convening of a constitutional convention (Con-Con), said Congress only has the first three years of every administration to work on constitutional amendments because politicians are automatically accused of having ulterior motives, such as prolonging themselves in power, once the midterm elections come.
The House committee on constitutional amendments chaired by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez started last January 26 hearings and public consultations on pending proposals to amend the 1987 Charter, including those calling for Con-Con and those seeking to turn Congress into a constituent assembly (Con-Ass).
The Rodriguez panel is scheduled to resume its hearing today on the various measures calling for Charter changes, particularly those seeking to amend and relax its “restrictive” economic provisions.
“Noong panahon ni FVR (the late president Fidel V. Ramos), itinulak iyang Charter Change.
Panahon ni GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo), even panahon ni Duterte. Ibig sabihin bakit hindi umuusad? E kasi po itinutulak po iyan after na ng midterm elections at may suspetsa na po ang tao na politically motivated (Charter change was pushed during the times of FVR, GMA, and even under former president Rodrigo Duterte. Why did it not prosper?
Because it’s being pushed after the midterm elections and the people suspect that it’s politically motivated),” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte, president of the National Unity Party (NUP), said the suspicion of extension of terms of elective officials has always been the stumbling block to efforts to amend the 35-year-old Charter.
He said Con-Con is the best mode to lift the 40 percent ownership cap, given that Con-Ass would never take off in the face of anticipated long, drawn-out debates among lawmakers, which had happened repeatedly in the past, on whether the Senate and the House of Representatives should vote jointly or separately since the Constitution is unclear.
Villafuerte expects strong support for the Con-Con proposal because of its timing, its focus on economic amendments, and his proposal to prohibit would-be Con-Con delegates from running in the immediate elections following the ratification via a plebiscite of the proposed revisions.
Moreover, delegates to the would-be Con-Con are barred under his proposal from being appointed to public positions while it is in session and up to a year after the ratification of the proposed Charter changes in a plebiscite, Villafuerte said.
“Boboto ba kami jointly or separately? So, imbes na pag-awayan pa ‘yan, umabot pa ng ilang taon yan, ako po at ang karamihan po ay nag-decide na Con-Con na lang (Are we voting jointly or separately? So instead of fighting over that and prolong the debate for years, I and many of us have decided to take the Con-Con route)” he said. “I think the majority sentiments… I think we will agree on Con-Con so there will be no more issue with the Senate.”
In House Bill (HB) No. 4926, Villafuerte proposes that the would-be members of the Con-Con tasked to study amendments and revisions to the 35-year-old Charter be elected simultaneously with either the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections (BSKE) this Oct. 30 or the midterm balloting for legislators and local executives due in May 2025.
And to avoid being accused of being self-serving or pushing for partisan interests, Villafuerte’s HB 4926 bans delegates from being appointed to public positions while the Con-Con is in session and up to a year after the ratification of the proposed amendments or revisions and from running in the next elections.
Villafuerte’s bill states that any person elected as a Con-Con delegate “shall not be eligible to run for any public office or position in the first national and first local elections to be held after the ratification of the new Constitution.”
HB 4926 calls for the election of one Con-Con delegate for each of the country’s 243 congressional districts.
