RESOLUTION 1109 COULD BACKFIRE ON ARROYO GOVERNMENT

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today warned that the Malacanang-instigated move to amend the Constitution to allow President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to keep herself in power beyond 2010 could backfire on the administration and could instead hasten its downfall.

Pimentel said the people were outraged when legislative allies of the administration railroaded the approval of Resolution ll09, which seeks to allow the House of Representatives to convene itself into a Constituent Assembly to amend the Constitution even without the participation of the Senate.

"The unintended consequence of the passage of House Resolution ll09 was to incite public anger," he said as he noted that people have begun to pour into the streets again to register their protest.

He cautioned law enforcement authorities against using force to break up and disperse the protest rallies which are being staged by the people in the exercise of their legitimate right.

"The people should not be prevented from ventilating their grievances through mass actions and public assemblies. But they should refrain from resorting to violence," he said.

Pimentel also echoed the public indignation over the Palace's deceptive claim that it has nothing to do with the adoption of Resolution ll09.

He said it is an open secret that administration congressmen were arm twisted by Malacanang into voting in favor of the resolution under pain of having their allocations from the Priority Development Assistance Fund withheld which could be detrimental to their reelection bid.

He objected to the call of some congressmen for the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of House Resolution 1109 in response to a petition filed by lawyer Oliver Lozano.

Pimentel said that the senators have opted not to challenge the validity of House Resolution 1109 at this stage because there is still no justiciable controversy for the Supreme Court to take cognizance of the petition. At this point, the Congressmen concerned merely want the Supreme Court to issue an advisory ruling on whether or not what the House did was right. The Congressmen ought to be reminded that the Supreme Court does not advice would-be-litigants. It issues decisions when there is a legal issue that is ripe for adjudication. The House resolution does not meet that criterion.

He said the senators believe that the Supreme Court can act on the petition only when the House proceeds to actually convene itself into a Constituent Assembly and initiate amendments to the Constitution.

The opposition lawmaker pointed out that Resolution ll09 does not even state the specific constitutional amendments that are being advocated by the proponents.

Pimentel maintained that the attempt of the bigger House to unilaterally amend the Charter will not take off the ground because it does not conform to the basic constitutional rule that every bill or resolution should have the approval of both chambers of Congress before it can be enacted into law and implemented.

He said the administration-dominated House decided to amend the Constitution by itself after the Senate rejected its position that the two legislative chambers should vote on every amendment jointly instead of separately.

"As far as we are concerned, Charter Change is already dead. The senators have unanimously adopted a resolution rejecting the method being used by the House to amend the Charter because it unconstitutional. Besides, there is no more time to do it before the 2010 elections," Pimentel said.