Press Release
February 20, 2009

House Members bullied
Cha-cha movement in House futile, says Chiz

Senator Chiz Escudero on Friday said that moves to revive the Charter change movement at the House of Representatives are pointless because the Senate will not be a party to politically-motivated, malicious and self-serving attempts to amend the Constitution.

Escudero issued the statement in reaction to news reports that allies of President Arroyo were still pushing for the approval of the resolution drafted by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, which calls on Congress to convene as a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass).

"These efforts are futile. They will not find support in the Senate, at least not in my committee," he said.

The senator chairs the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments, Revision of Codes and Laws which, if passed by the lower chamber, would deliberate on the resolution calling for the formation of a Con-Ass.

Escudero also said he believes that a majority of members of the House of Representatives really do not want to amend the Constitution now, but are being "bullied" into signing the resolution.

"I am not convinced that they want this. They are just being pushed and bullied into this," he said.

In order for members of Congress to be constituted as a Constituent Assembly, the 1987 Constitution requires a vote of two-thirds of members of the legislative body. However, there is a conflict of views on how members of the two chambers will vote.

For Escudero, both houses of Congress should vote separately and receive the nod of two-thirds of its respective members. Villafuerte has, in previous reports, said that members of both chambers should vote jointly and as such, all the votes can come from the House of Representatives since its members outnumber those of the Senate.

"This is absurd. Logic dictates that both chambers vote separately. This is especially true in something as serious as amending the Constitution. The framers of the highest law of the land instituted safeguards to preserve the sanctity of the Charter, and I do not think they would incorporate a flimsy rule in the case of amending the Constitution," Escudero said.

The senator's position on Charter change is simple: Talks on amending the Constitution should be deferred until the next administration.

"This is my position; if we do it now, it will just be seen as politically-motivated and malicious. We can never prevent people from suspecting that it is connected to efforts to extend the terms of incumbent officials, especially that of President Arroyo," he said.

Another resolution pending in the House of Representatives is one from House Speaker Prospero Nograles, which calls for amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution. The resolution has been approved by members of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments.

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