Some lawmakers plan to railroad Charter change —Drilon

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Sunday said there are plans by some lawmakers, mostly allies of President Rodrigo Duterte, to railroad the process of amending the 1987 Constitution, supposedly to accommodate their wishes to extend their terms.

Drilon told Super Radyo dzBB that the May 2018 barangay elections would be postponed to October in order for it to be held simultaneously with the plebiscite on the proposed amendments to the Constitution.

"Ang nakakatakot ay may planong i-railroad ang Cha-cha [Charter change] ng admin dahil ito ay connected sa plano nilang term extension sa congressmen at magagawa kung kanselahin ang 2019 midterm election at magkaroon ng term extension. At unang casualty ay ang pagkawala ng halalan sa Mayo dahil mawawalan ng kapangyarihan ang tao na makapamili ng kanilang pinuno," Drilon said.

"Kung magkaroon ng term extension sa 3rd term congressmen, ang dapat Cha-cha should be ratified bago ang May 2019... 'di pwedeng walang halalan kung iiral ang kasalukuyang Saligang Batas at the only way to hold plebiscite should be simultaneously with barangay election," Drilon added.

The senator said he had obtained the information from two sources, adding that Cha-cha would be ratified by October or November this year.

"Maliwanag ang balita, ako po dalawang sources ang nagsabi sa akin, ipo-postpone ang barangay election, mga alkalde ang hihingi ng postponement," Drilon said.

"Hindi na kayang ihabol ang pag-amyenda kung Mayo 2018 kaya kailangan ipostpone ang barangay election, mga October o November para may pagkakataong isabay ang plebesito," he said.

Drilon warned that this alleged move has a negative effect to the Philippine democracy, urging his colleagues to carefully study the process in amending the Constitution.

Drilon also called on Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel to listen to the sentiments of other senators as it seemed that most of them are not in favor of "railroading" the process to revise the 1987 Constitution.

"Dapat the Senate President should reflect the sentiment of the senators, sa aking basa ang gusto ng mga senador wag madaliin magrailroad at pagusapan. He should show his leadership in order that we should have the rationale," Drilon said.

When asked for comment, Pimentel said he has no idea on the issue: Never heard of that plan.

Senators' reactions

Meanwhile, some senators also said they have no knowledge on the matter, but vowed that they would not expedite the process of amending the 1987 Constitution.

"I am not aware of any move to railroad Charter Change. If there is any, I will not support it as I believe constitutional amendment cannot be rushed. Hope we all learn from our history," Senator Joel Villanueva said.

"Malabo. I would be the first to know if that will happen," Senator Vicente Sotto added.

"I haven't heard of it but, personally, I am not in favor of postponing the barangay elections any further if the only reason is to wait for their supposed attempt to amend the Constitution. We don't rush the passage of laws, what more amendments to the Constitution," said Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero.

Senator Panfilo Lacson said he would never support any move to postpone again the barangay polls.

"I'm not inclined to support yet another postponement of the barangay elections especially if the sole purpose is to accommodate a plebiscite for Charter Change," Lacson said.

"From the debates on the last postponement of the barangay elections, it seemed many senators were quite resolute that it would be the last as far as the Senate was concerned. Any subsequent postponement would entail some change of heart of sorts," added Senator Sonny Angara.

Senator Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino, meanwhile, insisted that the elections must push through as it will be the first time that " an anti-political dynasty provision in our laws will be implemented."

"We should push through with elections. We've been postponing it for too long already. We also want to see the SK (Sangguniang Kabataan) elections push through as this will be the first time an anti-political dynasty provision in our laws will be implemented," Aquino said. —LBG, GMA News