ILOILO CITY MAYOR BACKS CHA-CHA
ILOILO CITY: For Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, now is the time to revisit and amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
“I have always been in favor,” uttered the city mayor during a press conference, referring to the amendment of the 37-year-old Constitution.
Treñas pointed out that some provisions of the Constitution are restrictive to the country’s economy.
“After 37 years, it seems that we really need to amend some provisions of the Constitution,” stressed Treñas.
“The economic provisions are quite strict. For me, that is something that should be amended,” he emphasized.
Treñas, however, did not go on detailing the provisions that he said need to be amended.
The 1987 Constitution was crafted by the Constitutional Commission composed of 48 members appointed by then-President Corazon “Cory” Aquino from various backgrounds, including several members of the House of Representatives, former justices of the Supreme Court, a Catholic bishop and political activists.
The document was described by many as “kilometric” owing to the provisions that are longer than usual.
The city mayor said he is aware of the growing push to amend the Constitution through people’s initiative and the ongoing signature campaign that has even reached some parts of the city.
The signature campaign has reached Barangay Bito-on, Jaro, where residents are reportedly encouraged to sign the petition in exchange for P1,000.
Commission on Elections-6 (Comelec-Region 6) Director Dennis Ausan said that they have not yet received signature sheets from Iloilo City.
The Comelec-6 reported that as of January 20, it has received 423,504 signatures from at least 58 cities and towns across the region, including the provinces of Aklan, Iloilo and Negros Occidental, along with Bacolod City.
Negros Occidental collected the highest number of signatures with 205,356, followed by Iloilo province with 141,983, Aklan with 76,165 and Bacolod City with 69,098 signatures.
The signature campaign is spearheaded by the People’s Initiative for Reform Modernization and Action (Pirma).
Pirma, in the signature campaign, asks residents if they are in favor of amending Article 17, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution by allowing all members of Congress to jointly vote on proposed constitutional amendments in a constituent assembly.
The current Article 17, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution is silent on whether members of the Senate and the House of Representatives should vote jointly or separately in amending the Constitution.
Under the 1987 Constitution, amendments can be directly proposed by the people “through initiative upon a petition of at least 12 percent of the total number of registered voters, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least 3 percent of the registered voters therein, a mode called people’s initiative.”