Press Release
November 30, 2008

Palace allies to ram through term extension scheme
 under their version of Con-As

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today warned that the trashing of the fourth impeachment case against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is a portent of things to come if the administration lawmakers will insist on amending the Constitution through joint voting of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Pimentel said the administration wants the two chambers of Congress to vote jointly, instead of separately, on amendments so that its numerically superior allies in the House can railroad the approval of amendments that will enable President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to stay beyond 2010.

"What they did to the impeachment case by using their numerical superiority, they will also do on the proposed extension of terms," he said.

The minority leader said the administration gameplan was pried open when it was discovered that the House committee on constitutional amendments had started discussion on a resolution, authored by Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas, to extend the term of all elective public officials from June 30, 2010 to June 30, 2011.

But the principal objective of the administration, according to Pimentel is to adopt a parliamentary system of government where the constitutional ban against the reelection of the incumbent president will be rendered inoperative. This will enable Mrs. Arroyo to run for Member of Parliament in Pampanga and subsequently for prime minister.

Pimentel said that the insistence of administration congressmen for a joint voting is patently unconstitutional, against parliamentary tradition and simply illogical, even as he pointed out that the House has at present 229 congressmen compared to only 23 senators.

"If we vote jointly, we will always be overwhelmed and outnumbered by the House," he said.

Pimentel said they are pursuing this devious scheme on the presumption that when the issue of its constitutionality is raised before the Supreme Court, their position will be upheld by the tribunal.

However, he said he firmly believes that the Supreme Court, even if it packed with Arroyo appointees, will resolve this issue according to the rule of law and the paramount public interest, and not to please the appointing authority.

The senator from Mindanao dared the proponents of the joint voting scheme to drop their proposal altogether to remove a major stumbling block that has set back the process for amending the Constitution.

At the same time, Pimentel disagreed on the suggestion of former University of the Philippines and l97l Constitutional Convention secretary general Jose Abueva for the holding of a Constitutional Convention and the election of its delegates in May, 2010 meaning simultaneously with the scheduled national and local elections.

Pimentel argued that it would be much better to convert Congress into a Constituent Assembly than to call a Con-Con because it is a faster and inexpensive process.

Moreover, he said it inadvisable to hold the election of Con Con delegates and national and local government officials at the same time because the public discussion of constitutional issues and specific amendments is likely to be overshadowed by partisan political issues during the election campaign

News Latest News Feed