House to start Cha-cha initiative early next year

MANILA, Philippines – The Charter change (Cha-cha) initiative that will shift the country to the federal system starts moving in the House of Representatives early next year.

“We have to start the effort by the first quarter of 2017,” Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez told reporters yesterday.

“This revision of the Constitution will take up much of our time,” he said.

Alvarez reiterated his proposal for President Duterte to appoint a preparatory commission that would come up with a draft of a new constitution.

During the third Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) local government summit in Davao City on Thursday, Duterte said he asked Alvarez to speed up the Cha-cha effort that would lead to replacing the present presidential system with a federal form of government.

“Sabi ko sa kanila, Bot (Alvarez), dalian n’yo iyan. Sabi ko, ‘matapos kayo dalawa, tatlong taon, I will step down as president.’ You can have my word,” Duterte told ARMM officials led by Gov. Mujiv Hataman.

“I am offering (to shorten) my term. Sabi ko nga ma-craft lang iyan, wala kayong problema sa akin,” the President added.

Duterte said his congressional allies should install the federal system in three years.

He said he preferred a federal form of government with a strong president.

The committee on constitutional amendments chaired by Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado has endorsed the resolution of Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez and other congressmen calling on the House and the Senate to convene as a constituent assembly (con-ass) to do Cha-cha.

Duterte and Alvarez were initially for the election of a constitutional convention (con-con) but changed their mind when Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno told them voting for convention delegates alone could cost taxpayers at least P7 billion.

Congressmen advocating the election of a convention have shifted to con-ass since Duterte favored the less expensive mode of Cha-cha.

Among them is Surigao del Sur’s Prospero Pichay Jr., who said if a convention were elected, the candidates for delegates would mostly be protégés of politicians.

“We will field our own people. And when they meet as a convention, they will most likely consult with us. So we might as well do it ourselves. It will be less expensive and faster,” he said.