STATEMENT OF SEN. PIMENTEL ON CHA-CHA

That was a shameless betrayal of the public trust that the people had bestowed on the majority members of the House.

Pushed to its logical conclusion, the move will now pave the way for the approval of the nefarious plot of Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr., and his allies in the House to amend the Constitution so that there would be no elections in 2007, thereby extending their terms to benefit themselves and probably shift the form of government to parliamentary.

As Senate Minority Leader, let me put on record that we are not opposed to amending the Constitution. But, we would like to stress that amendments to the Constitution should be done pursuant to the rules mandated by the Constitution. Otherwise, as the self-serving moves now being undertaken by the House majority, the Constitution will become a play thing of those who control the House and their master in Malacañang .

In that scenario, anything goes provided it jibes with what the manipulators headed by De Venecia and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Like robots tied to the apron strings of De Venecia and Arroyo, the house majority acts as if their personal interests equal the national interest. In this case, unfortunately, the two do not mesh.