ADMINISTRATION URGED TO STICK TO AGENDA OF CHARTER CHANGE -- SHIFT TO FEDERALISM

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) said he believes that Congress will back a Malacañang call for amending the 1987 Constitution to pave the way for the adoption of a Federal System of Government to break the prolonged impasses in the government's peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Pimentel, however, warned that efforts to pursue Charter Change will not sit well with the people if the administration and its legislative allies will attempt to ram through the proposal to adopt a unicameral parliamentary system of government which will deprive them of the right to elect the head of government (president).

He said that while he is supporting the Palace's federalism plan which has been his advocacy since the 1980s, such a worthy goal may go awry if the administration will ride on the proposal to pursue a hidden agenda: that of allowing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to stay in power beyond 2010.

"It is high time to push forward the adoption of a federal system but the process of amending the Constitution must not be used as a subterfuge for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's continued stay in power," the minority leader said.

"The adoption of the federal system must be totally rid of partisan considerations. Otherwise, there will be hell for the next generations of our countrymen and women."

Pimentel said the creation of a BangsaMoro Federal State under a Federal Republic of the Philippines will put an end to the Muslim secessionist conflict as it will give the people in Muslim Mindanao a measure of self-rule and will also enable them to assert and preserve their cultural identity, especially their Islamic faith and way of life.

He said the failure to forge a final peace agreement between the government and MILF, after more than 10 years of negotiation has made life miserable for the people in Muslim Mindanao. He cited the hesitation of investors to set up business there despite the bountiful natural resources of the area.

Pimentel also lamented that opportunities to step up the rehabilitation of conflict areas were squandered as the United States has withheld the release of $30 million development aid for Muslim Mindanao since it is preconditioned on the signing of the peace agreement.

The $30 million aid was promised by US President George W. Bush as early as 2003.

The lone senator from Mindanao also urged the Arroyo government to heed the warning of the MILF leadership that the protracted delay in the signing of a peace agreement is causing restiveness within the rebel group, referring to the reported attempt of younger and more aggressive elements to seize control of the MILF to resume the separatist war.