Press Release
April 25, 2009

Press statement of Sen. Loren Legarda

On assertion that House can bypass Senate on cha cha

It's as if we have returned to the martial law days when dictator henchmen were the ones taking command the Batasang Pambansa, and leaving the then opposition eating dust. The House cannot just impose the tyranny of numbers in Congress, especially since the Constitution provides that the Senate and the House should vote separately on all issues prsented to them for legislation.

From the very start, I have always opposed such a move to amend the constitution because, it is not urgent, considering that what we need is to get down to work and attend to more pressing needs such as unemployment, peace and order, rising prices of basic commodities, and environmental problems.

Worse, the House wants to do the amendments all by itself - that is to convene itself into constituent assembly- and leaving the Senate out of the picture. Majority of the people, surveys show, are not in favor of changing the constitution for so many reasons, foremost of which is that "changing the constitution is not a guarantee that the economy will change for the better." People are convinced that the House move is meant not to spur change in our economy but "to perpetuate our incumbent officials in office" by amending the constitutional provisions on terms of office. This is dangerous.

Sad to say there is here a sense of lack of priorities.

On Smith being no longer in RP

That US Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith managed to "sneak" out of the country should not catch us by surprise. Man-made miracles apparently still happen in our country. For if it is not "miracle," how come people in all exit points - meaning, our airports, including Diosdado Macapagal Airport in Clark Field, airbases Subic and Villamor, Bureau of Immigration - could not tell whether the American serviceman exonerated by the Court of Appeals has actually left the country or not.

There ought to be an explanation from our officials manning our ports of exit on the circumstances leading to the departure of Mr. Smith from Philippine jurisdiction

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