Cha-cha talk must be open to all, House opposition solons say

Opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Thursday said the discussions on charter change must be open to all Congress members and to the public, and not only among congressional leaders.

The legislators made the call following the meeting of Senate and House leaders on Wednesday night to tackle issues as regards proposing amendments to the Constitution and a shift to a federal form of government.

In an interview with the media, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate stressed that Congress leaders must be transparent to the public about their discussions.

"Siguro sa tingin natin dito, kung ano man ang pag-uusapan ng liderato ng dalawang kapulungan ay dapat ibukas ito. Maging transparent. At sa napakaimportanteng pagbabagong gawin sa ating Saligang Batas, hindi pwedeng pinag-uusapan lang ito sa isang malamig na kwarto ng liderato ng Kamara," he said.

"Dapat maging transparent at sabihin sa mamamayan. Lalong-lalo na ngayon na andami nang lumalabas na proposals, nandiyan yung no election, term extension, pagtatanggal ng ilang constitutional bodies at yung pagbibigay ng lawmaking power sa pangulo," he added.

Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III and Majority Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, as well as Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and House Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas, met on Wednesday night to talk about and resolve issues regarding charter change.

According to Alvarez, the Congress leaders have yet to decide on the matter of voting in proposing constitutional amendments, as they first need to come up with a proposal on the structure of government under federalism.

Their own support staff will also help them in creating proposals.

Zarate said it is "dangerous" that only four individuals are meeting to discuss such important issue.

"That's dangerous dahil iilang tao lang ang gumagawa ng desisyon para sa kinabukasan ng ating bayan. At sa tingin ko hindi magandang proseso yan," he said.

"Totoo na may kanya-kanyang agenda ang mga nagtutulak nito at dapat, manggaling man yan sa liderato o manggaling sa miyembro ng dalawang kapulungan, ilapag ito at pag-usapan," he added.

Caloocan Representative Edgar Erice shared the same view, adding that deciding on the mode of voting should be of premium importance.

"I hope that the Speaker will also consider consulting the opposition on the House, consensus building is a very effective component in law... instead of bullying House members," he said.

"It's my opinion that the House and the Senate should resolve first the mode of voting otherwise even if we agree on good proposals it will still be an exercise in futility," he added.

For his part, Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat Jr. said he is hoping that the public would realize how "whimsical" and "frivolous" how the Congress leaders are deciding on charter change.

"First the President says that constituent assembly will be the process of charter change and that a commission will be created to draft the proposed draft for a new constitution. No such undertaking took place. Despite widespread calls for a constitutional convention, the administration insisted constituent assembly is the best mechanism for charter change," he said.

"Now after dinner of selected House and Senate leaders, a temporary ceasefire is in effect with no clear picture on what type of federalism are we going to tackle, how both houses will vote on the proposed charter changes and the timeline," he added.

Akbayan party-list Representative Tom Villarin said the meeting gave both a "cooling off" period and a recalibration of moves, which includes moving the planned plebiscite this May 2018.

"The motive of no-elections is still not lost in the meeting of minds among our Congressional leaders," he said.

"Here, time is of the essence as midterm elections is just around the corner. With the Senate having other priorities and timetable, I doubt if they can even jointly assemble. With only two PDP-Laban senators, a consensus in Senate is impossible," he added.

In an earlier television interview, Alvarez said that if Congress decides to convene in a constituent assembly this month, the proposed new federal charter may be submitted for a referendum simultaneously with the scheduled Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections this May.

However, he later said that if they cannot finish their work before their original timetable, the plebiscite could be held on the May 2019 midterm elections.