Charter change timeline

ARROYO: FROM ANTI- TO PRO- CHACHA December 2001 — President Arroyo was quoted as saying "Going to a constitutional debate is really only going to distract us from what we need to do to survive and meet the challenges of the global uncertainty." May 2003 - Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said "the President remains neutral" on proposals to amend the Charter and is bent on giving her focus on "other more pressing issues." July 2004 — "Charter reform is our strategic hope for change," Arroyo was quoted as saying. 'HELLO GARCI' June 5, 2005 - Bunye played, and distributed to reporters, two CDs containing two versions of the Hello Garci tape, a supposed wiretapped conversation between Arroyo and Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. He said one contained a wiretapped cell phone call and the other has parts of the call spliced with the voice of Garcillano to make it appear Arroyo was instructing him to rig the elections. June 27, 2005 — Without naming Garcillano, Arroyo apologized to the nation for her lapse in judgment in talking to a Comelec commissioner. July 8, 2005 - In a press conference at the Hyatt Hotel, 10 cabinet members and Palace officials resigned and called on Arroyo to follow suit. On the same day, former President Aquino and the Manila Business Club also called on Arroyo to resign. Anti-Arroyo forces gather at Ayala. In the afternoon, former president Fidel Ramos appeared at Malacañang, expressed support for Arroyo, and said the country should transform from presidential to parliamentary form of government through charter change. July 25, 2005 — During her State of the Nation Address, Arroyo declared that "It's time to start the great debate on Charter Change." CONSULTATIVE COMMISSION August 19, 2005 - Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 453, "creating a consultative commission to propose the revision of the 1987 Constitution in consultation with various sectors of society." September 28, 2005 — The Consultative Commission (ConCom) held its first formal meeting at the Innotech Building along Commonwealth Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City. October 24, 2005 — Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 453-A, which increased the number of members of the commission. December 16, 2005 - The ConCom report on constitutional reforms was presented to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacanang. January 24, 2006 — In an opinion, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez wrote: "It is my considered view that as long as the campaign for constitutional change by a public officer is not of behest of a political party but an expression of his views on political issues without being identified with a political party, he may campaign for a constitutional change." 'PEOPLE'S INITIATIVE' February 15, 2006 - Sigaw ng Bayan and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) began conducting a nationwide signature-gathering campaign supporting charter change. February 21, 2006 - In a speech before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), President Arroyo declared that she is the best person to lead the country in the transition from presidential to parliamentary form of government. In an e-mail that circulated on the Internet, Vicente Paterno, who chaired the Con-com Committee on National Patrimony and Economic Reforms, has come out in public to say that he is dissociating himself from all Con-Com activities and will oppose moves to amend the charter. February 23, 2006 — Acting DILG Secretary Wencelito T. Andanar issued Memorandum Circular 2006-17 reminding all barangay chairs of the conduct of barangay assemblies. March 10, 2005 — DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno, through Usec Andanar, issued Memorandum Circular 2006-25, directing all barangay chairs "to conduct their Barangay Assemblies on March 25, 2006 and on October 21, 2006." Suggested agenda included the discussion of "current issues affecting the country…" March 25, 2006 — PCIJ reported that "a nationwide signature campaign to amend the Constitution through a people’s initiative began this morning, with cash and sacks of rice reportedly being dangled as rewards in some barangays if they support Charter change." Sigaw ng Bayan, a multi-sectoral group that initiated a signature campaign for Cha-cha, reported "an unprecedented turnout in barangay assemblies across the country... with majority of the participants expressing full support for the snowballing clamor for Charter change." (PCIJ) March 29, 2006 - The Supreme Court clarified that without an enabling law that must first be passed by Congress, any move to allow charter change through the people’s initiative or referendum mode is not possible. April 7, 2006 - In a pastoral statement, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) asked: "Is this truly a 'people’s initiative' or the initiative of self-seeking political players wanting to entrench themselves in power? We might further ask the question of the source of funding for this entire operation." April 27, 2006 — Opposition groups led by former vice president Teofisto Guingona asked a Quezon City court to issue an order restraining District COMELEC personnel from conducting verification of signatures submitted by Sigaw ng Bayan and DILG personnel for the ‘peoples’ initiative. June 22, 2006 - Church and civic leaders launched One Voice, a movement which opposes charter change and seeks the discontinuance of Sigaw ng Bayan's campaign for people's initiative. August 25, 2006 - Sigaw ng Bayan and ULAP filed a petition for people's initiative before the COMELEC. Sigaw ng Bayan Spokesman Raul Lambino claimed they were able to gather nearly 9 million signatures. (Sigaw ng Bayan; iNEWS) Earlier in the day, charter change supporters held a program the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. August 27, 2006 - One Voice filed its opposition to Sigaw ng Bayan's petition before the Supreme Court. August 29, 2006 - Anti-charter change advocates attending a senate hearing alleged that Sigaw ng Bayan falsified signatures in the petition for people's initiative. Sigaw ng Bayan and ULAP representatives did not show up at the hearing. August 31, 2006 - In a five-page decision, the Comelec denied "due course" to Sigaw and ULAP's petition for a people’s initiative. September 5, 2006 - Sigaw ng Bayan filed before the Supreme Court a petition for Certiorari and Mandamus asking the Court to void the Comelec resolution. September 26, 2006 - The Supreme Court heard Sigaw ng Bayan's petition. October 11, 2006 - In a memorandum submitted to the Supreme Court by One Voice lead counsel Atty. Carlos Medina, the anti-chacha group said that the Comelec did not commit grave abuse of discretion in dismissing Sigaw ng Bayan's people’s initiative petition because it merely complied with a previous SC ruling. (One Voice) October 25, 2006 - Voting 8-7, the Supreme Court junked the people's initiative petition of Sigaw ng Bayan and ULAP. November 21, 2006 - Maintaining its 8-7 vote, the Supreme Court denied with finality the motions for reconsideration of its October 25, 2006 decision. It's final: the people's initiative petition of Raul Lambino et al. is dead. December 12, 2006 - The Supreme Court, in its first En Banc session under Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, junked the second motion to reconsider its decision on the People’s Initiative cases "considering that a second motion for reconsideration is a prohibited pleading under Section 2, Rule 52 in relation to Section 2, Rule 56 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended." HOUSE'S CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY December 5, 2006 — The House of Representatives, voting of 161-25 with no abstentions, amended its own rules on the night of December 5, 2006, Tuesday. The vote amended by deletion Section 105 of the House Rules in the 13th Congress adopted in 2004, which says: "Proposals to amend or revise the Constitution shall be by resolution which may be filed at any time by any member. The adoption of resolutions proposing amendments to or revision of the constitution shall follow the procedure for the enactment of bills." December 8, 2006 - The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines issued a Pastoral Exhortation: "Watch and Pray: Magmalasakit Para sa Bayan." They called for a "national watch and pray gathering in all major cities or Catholic dioceses "in order to express our opposition to the hasty and manipulative way CON-ASS is being pursued or undertaken for Charter Change." December 11, 2006 — Senators filed and put on record Senate Resolution 599, which formalized their stand against the convening of a constituent assembly as proposed by their counterparts in the House of Representatives. December 12, 2006 - Former President Aquino announced that she will join the o express my moral outrage at the attempt of administration congressmen to foist their processed idea of Charter change upon the nation by turning Congress into a constituent assembly." December 14, 2006 - The House of Representatives voted to archive House Resolution 197, thereby shelving its plans to convene the Congress into a constituent assembly on charter change. That same morning, President Arroyo conceded that Filipinos were still not ready for constitutional amendments: "Philippine democracy will always find the proper time and opportunity for Charter reform at a time when the people deem it ripe and needful, and in the manner they deem proper." December 17, 2006 - Thousands attended the prayer rally held at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park. Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President Archbishop Angel Lagdameo called for "character change", saying charter change would be useless without moral change in the country's leaders. December 19, 2006 - In a statement, Arroyo said: "There are three realities we face as a nation: one, that the people accept the need for Charter change to overhaul the system; two, that there is a need for a unified national consensus on the means and timetable; and three, that this is a platform commitment of the administration that will be pursued with urgency and fervor." Sources:GMA News, INQ7, GMANews.tv, OPS, Congress.gov.ph, DILG, CBCP, One Voice