Press Release
November 21, 2008

House members warned against erroneous way of amending Charter

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today warned members of the House of Representatives against being misled into supporting a Charter Change scheme that does not conform with the rules and procedures prescribed by the Constitution.

Pimentel said the congressmen will be wasting time and efforts if they would blindly swallow the line that the Senate and the House can vote jointly on every and all Charter amendments, instead of separately. To do so, he argued, will not be in keeping with the bicameral nature of Congress and the intent of the framers of the l987 Constitution.

"They cannot do that because they know that it is not in accordance with the Constitution. And they will be very foolish if they will try to do it," he said.

Based on media reports, allies of Malacanang aim to secure more than l50 signatures on a resolution to convert the Senate and the House into a Constituent Assembly to amend the Constitution jointly and not separately.

Unlike the scheme for initiating amendments under the House resolution, Pimentel said Joint Senate Resolution 10 on the adoption of a federal system, of which he is the principal author, clearly provides that the two chambers of Congress should vote separately on proposed amendments.

He said the Palace and its lackeys in the House are shamelessly pursuing a devious scheme to railroad the passage of amendments that will advance their hidden agenda to allow President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to stay in power beyond 2010.

Pimentel said the objective of the Palace is to establish a parliamentary system, where Mrs. Arroyo can run for member of parliament in her home province, Pampanga, and later for prime minister.

Inevitably, the constitutionality of the administration-backed Charter Change plan will be questioned before the Supreme Court. Apparently, Pimentel said they feel cocksure that the Supreme Court will rule in their favor this time, specially with the anticipated appointment of more justices in the tribunal to fill the vacancies that will be created with the impending retirement of seven associate justices next year.

Pimentel said that even if the Supreme Court will be packed with appointees of President Arroyo, he does not think that the Palace's game plan will succeed.

"It is very clear even to freshmen law students on constitutional law that cannot be done. We have two chambers of Congress, and you cannot have one chamber doing things alone by itself," he said.

"One chamber cannot even pass a new law creating a new barangay or the national budget bill by itself. And more so, it cannot amend the Constitution unilaterally."

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