Press Release
May 6, 2008

KIKO OKS CHACHA, BUT ON 2 CONDITIONS

Senate Majority Leader and Independent senator Kiko Pangilinan today reiterated his position on the move to amend the Constitution, citing two conditions that will make Charter Change acceptable.

"ChaCha must be done in the right way at the right time.Thus,1:It should not be done before 2010 and 2:It must be through a Constitutional Convention,"Kiko said.

Kiko was among the 12 senators who signed the resolution to amend the Constitution and adopt a federal system, as proposed by Senator Nene Pimentel.

"Launching another Charter Change initiative before 2010 will open it to threats of self-serving political interests. We must be vigilant and we must not allow another railroading of this initiative. Besides, the country cannot afford another divisive issue especially at this time when we are already reeling with the rice crisis and oil price hike,"Kiko said.

"We also reiterate our position from the start that the amendment of the Charter must always be within the confines of the Constitution. A People's Initiative can only be employed for minor revisions in the Constitution and can never be used to amend it. For a Constitutional Assembly to be executed legitimately, the two Houses of Congress must vote separately, otherwise this will be unconstitutional. At this point, we favor a Constitutional Convention that will truly and boldly represent the interests of our people. We are not against Cha-cha, pero sa tamang oras at paraan," Kiko ended.

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