Militant group calls all Negrenses to oppose charter change

VOTING 224-22-3, the House of Representatives passed on third and final reading the proposed revision of the 1987 Constitution on Tuesday.

Michael Dela Concepcion, secretary-general of Bayan-negros, in a statement, said: “in such a shameful act, House members who adamantly pushed for this Charter Change aim to legislate the extension of their own terms of office until May 2022, thereby cancelling the May 2019 elections. They also removed their term limits.”

“From the draft constitution, they deleted the prohibition on political dynasties, to which many House members belong. Even the pork barrel system, declared illegal because of the PDAF and DAP scams involving former senators Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, will be institutionalized,” he said.

Other contentious provisions in the Charter Change include sellout of public utilities, educational institutions, mass media and advertising to foreign corporations; and privatization of healthcare and housing, he added.

The Resolution of Both Houses No. 15, or the “Resolution of Both Houses Proposing the Revision of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines,” garnered 224 affirmative votes, 22 negative votes and three abstention.

Once approved by the Senate and signed by the President, this joint resolution would have the force and effect of a law. There has been no assurance, however, that the Senate would approve the same resolution.

Earlier, some senators said the resolution would be “dead on arrival” at the Senate due to lack of time to deliberate on it in the 17th Congress.

The Congress will adjourn its session before the week ends and it only has a few months before the mid-term elections in May 2019.

The resolution was passed Tuesday, or two

months after it was reverted to the committee on constitutional amendments over the exclusion of the Vice President from the line of succession in the proposed transition government.

The draft federal constitution that is proposed to replace the 1987 Constitution was prepared by House Speaker Gloria Macapagalarroyo and 21 other lawmakers.

Dissenters included Anak Mindanao Rep. Amihilda Sangcopan, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, Dinagat Islands Rep. Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao, Quezon City Rep. Jose Christopher “Kit” Belmonte and Makabayan lawmakers Ariel Casilao, France Castro, Carlos Zarate and Antonio Tinio.

The proposed federal charter mandates a presidential-bicameral-federal system of government.

It also proposes that State Principles and Policies ensure that relations between the Church and State shall be governed by benevolent neutrality.

Under the resolution, the federal states may be created upon petition to Congress by the “contiguous, compact and adjacent provinces, highly urbanized and component cities, and cities and municipalities in metropolitan areas through a resolution of their respective legislative bodies” subject to approval by the citizens in the areas that will be affected, through a plebiscite.

A province may be established as a federal state based on area, population, necessity, geographical distance, among other considerations.

Each federal state shall have the power to create its own sources of revenue and to levy taxes, fees and charges subject to such guidelines and limitations provided by the Congress.

The National Government, in turn, shall provide local governments their just share in the national taxes as determined by law, which shall be automatically released to them.

The resolution proposes a two-party system where the state shall provide a subsidy to political parties. A vote for the President shall be a vote for the Vice President. They should come from the same party.

The President and the Vice President shall have the same powers and functions as provided for in the 1987 Constitution and shall serve a term of four years with one re-election, or a total of eight years.

Under the 1987 Constitution, a President may serve only one term of six years. He or she is not eligible for reelection to avert another dictatorship.

The Arroyo-led draft charter also provides that the incumbent President and Vice President shall serve until their terms expire in 2022. The President will not be allowed to run for an elective post in May 2019.

Term limits for both senators and members of the House of Representatives would be lifted.

The resolution also provides that one out of five members of the House of Representatives, or 20 percent of the more than 300 representatives, must represent the marginalized sectors and be elected through a party-list system or registered federal or regional sectoral parties or organizations.

Members of Congress should be at least college degree holders although incumbent lawmakers are exempted from this provision.

RBH 15 also mandates all branches of government to continue to function during the transition period or the period before the proposed May 2022 elections until all successors are elected.

The House of Representatives did not include in its proposal a provision prohibiting political dynasties. The other draft federal charter prepared by the Consultative Committee tasked to review the 1987 Constitution prohibits political dynasties.

The measure further proposes lawless violence to be a ground for the declaration of martial law when the public safety requires it./with reports from Sunstar Philippines