Drilon on mayors’ Cha-cha proposal: Pagkain, hindi sayaw ang kailangan

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon is optimistic that the proposal of over a thousand mayors in the country to make constitutional reforms supposedly to empower local government units will not fly in the Senate.

In a Dobol B sa News TV interview on Sunday, Drilon assailed the reasons of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), composed of 1,488 mayors, for pushing for Charter change (Cha-cha), as covered in their proposal submitted to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

"Ang kailangan natin ngayon, pagkain, hindi sayaw. Hindi Cha-cha ang kailangan natin. Walang hanapbuhay ang ating mga kababayan, 'yun ang malaking problema," he said.

"Ako ay may tiwala sa aking mga kasamahan na makikita nila na hindi para sa kapakanan ng bayan itong gagawin nila. At ako ay naniniwala na haharangin ito sa Senado, hindi makakalusot," the senator said.

According to LMP national president Luis Chavit Singson, the association has come up with a resolution endorsing a proposal to institutionalize the so-called Mandanas Ruling of the Supreme Court in the Constitution and the lifting of restrictions on foreign investment in industries that are presently limited to Filipinos.

He said the mayors believe that institutionalizing the Mandanas Ruling will ensure that regions will have a continuous fair share in the taxes collected by the national government. 

In the said ruling, the Supreme Court stated that "the share from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of the local government units does not exclude other national taxes like customs duties."

But Drilon said Congress cannot pass a law ignoring the Supreme Court's interpretation on provisions of the Constitution.

"Hindi kami puwedeng magpasa ng batas na sinasabi na dapat ang koleksiyon lang ng BIR [Bureau of Internal Revenue] at hindi ng Customs ang isali sa IRA," he said.

"Hindi puwede 'yan dahil sabi sa Constitution, ang ibig sabihin ng ating Saligang Batas kapag sinasabing national taxes, ang ibig sabihin niyan ay lahat, BIR, Bureau of Customs at kung anu-ano pang ahensiya ang nagkokolekta ng buwis," he added.

Moreover, the LMP mayors also claimed that allowing foreign investors to own the majority of operations of local firms would be beneficial to their constituents as long as there was continuous protection of workers' rights and a ban on foreign ownership of land.

But Drilon said the Senate is already deliberating on measures liberalizing business ownership in the Philippines, and there is no need for a constitutional amendment in doing so.

Drilon believes the proposal for Cha-cha is only intended for the 2022 elections to be postponed and for the removal of term limits of some elected officials.

"Hindi tama 'yan e. Regardless kung kailan gagawin ay hindi puwedeng ipagpaliban ang halalan sa 2022 o alisin ang term limits," he said.

Drilon said senators, particularly the minority bloc, are ready to shut off any moves to amend the Constitution.

"Handa ang minority na lumaban dito. Si Senate President Sotto, sinasabi niya iba ang priority namin. So chances of it being passed in the Senate is very small," he said. —KG, GMA News