Press Release
January 16, 2006
LAKAS GOAL FOR CONGRESS APPROVAL OF CHARTER CHANGE BY MID-2006 IS ILLUSORY
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today
said leaders of the ruling Lakas Christian-Muslim Democrats have set
an illusory goal by saying they expect Congress to approve the
amendments to the 1987 Constitution, including the adoption of a
French-style parliamentary system of government, by the middle of
2006.
Pimentel said he does not see the resolution on Charter Change being
approved by the Senate within that time-frame because the senators
do not want amendments to be hastily and haphazardly passed.
He said the seven-man minority bloc of senators remain firm in their
stand that they will not support Charter Change unless President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo resigns first.
The minority leader lashed out at former President Fidel Ramos and
Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. for treating the overhaul of the
Constitution like making a quickie, run-of-the-mill movie.
Ramos and De Venecia are good at gimmickry. They think that if they
propose something, that is what will happen, Pimentel said. They
should stop acting like they were still Marcos minions. Whatever
Marcos said was followed, but that was because it was martial law.
Pimentel said Ramos, De Venecia, along with President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo, should come to their senses and accept the reality
they do not have the numbers to push Charter Change in the Senate.
Moreover, he said the 2006 national budget, and not Charter Change,
is the priority of the Senate.
Pimentel noted that even Lakas senators who are known to be
dependable Arroyo allies have distanced themselves from the
administrations plan to rush Charter Change. |