Speaker: No GMA term extension

Speaker Prospero Nograles changed his tune yesterday as he declared that President Arroyo would not extend her term beyond 2010.

Nograles earlier admitted in a TV interview that it was possible to extend the term of the President if her allies succeed in amending the Constitution.

But senior House members have reiterated that efforts to rewrite the 1987 Charter would not extend the term of Mrs. Arroyo.

“We will not extend her (President Arroyo) term. Period,” Nograles said, one of several administration lawmakers whose bill on constitutional amendments is being deliberated on by the House of Representatives.

This as Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Loren Legarda rejected renewed moves to change the Constitution even if its proponents in the House use the global crisis as an excuse to amend certain economic provisions.

“My point is this, assuming the most innocent motive for Charter change (which) is to advance the Philippine economy by amending or revising our economic provision, will it immediately produce results so as help the Philippine economy next year which will already be impacted by the (world) financial economy?” Santiago said.

“There is no necessity, it will not be essential to our economy immediately and it will not be practical because the people do not like Cha-cha,” Santiago said over radio dzBB.

Nograles filed a resolution that now has 163 signatures, aimed at lifting the prohibitive 60-40 constitutional requirement that only favors local investors, saying the provision bars foreign investors from coming over.

Nograles reiterated his stand that he himself is against the President’s term extension and the proposals to postpone the 2010 elections.

Another ally of Mrs. Arroyo, La Union Rep. Victor Ortega, head of the House committee on constitutional amendments, made the same assurances.

“We are not going to extend the term of office of public officials, including the President.”

Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez, chairman of the House committee on trade and industry, said Mrs. Arroyo would step down as mandated by law, adding that critics should not make use of term-extension to berate her.

“I am against term extension for the President simply because she is against it. The President has become a collateral damage of this Charter change enterprise,” he said.

“With the many problems she is facing, she certainly doesn’t need this aggravation. Sadly, here is the case of a clueless dorm mother getting the blame for the actions of her boarders,” he added.  

Neophyte Rep. Elpidio Barzaga of Cavite said these anti-Charter change moves do not help any, especially at this point. He said there is a need for an “honest-to-goodness” review of the fundamental law of the land.

“Nograles’ proposal covers only the liberalization of the restrictive economic provisions to make the country competitive with other countries in attracting foreign investments, most especially if we consider the current global economic crisis,” he said.

“And therefore the argument that it is intended to extend the term of GMA is certainly and totally misplaced,” Barzaga stressed.

Marikina Rep. Marcelino Teodoro described the efforts of anti-Cha-cha forces as “ill-motivated” and only promote divisiveness in the country.

“Jobs and investment opportunities are transnational in nature. We must be rational in facing up to the global economic challenges and do away with partisan or personality politics,” Teodoro said. 

Renewed moves

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., who was retained as minority leader after the Nov. 17 change in Senate leadership, said the trashing of the fourth impeachment case against President Arroyo is “a portent of things to come” if the administration lawmakers would insist on amending the Constitution through joint voting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Santiago also warned that amending the Constitution would only create “chaos” among the people.

Santiago appealed to the President and her allies for a “ceasefire” on Cha-cha moves.

The feisty senator noted that there are several versions of Cha-cha at the House. The mere fact that there are several versions also indicates lack of unanimity among the President’s allies on what and how Cha-cha should be administered.

“Why do we have to discuss even the mode of changing the Constitution? Why are we not talking on how to deal with the economy… I cannot see any way clear out of this and it will even raise a question before the Supreme Court,” she said.

Legarda urged the administration and its allies to drop the move for Cha-cha and instead focus on strengthening the economy through a “fiscal stimulus package” in the face of the global financial crisis shaking up the world.

“Instead of throwing away hundreds of millions of pesos to efforts to amend the Constitution, which may only be futile because of rejection by the majority of the people, our government should devise a financial stimulus to boost agricultural productivity and help small businessmen to survive from the financial crisis,” Legarda said.

She said that the holding of a constituent assembly or convention and later of a nationwide plebiscite to ratify the amendments “would cost hundreds of millions of pesos which should be better directed to the strengthening of the national economy to prevent mass layoffs as well as the further spread of hunger among our people.”

Pimentel said the administration wants the two chambers of Congress to vote jointly on amendments so that “its numerically superior allies in the House can railroad the approval of amendments that will enable President Arroyo to stay beyond 2010.”

“What they did to the impeachment case by using their numerical superiority, they will also do on the proposed extension of terms,” he said.

But the principal objective of the administration, Pimentel said, is to adopt a parliamentary system of government where the constitutional ban against the reelection of the incumbent president will be rendered inoperative.

This would enable Mrs. Arroyo to run for member of Parliament in Pampanga and subsequently for prime minister, he said.

He added that the insistence of administration congressmen for a joint voting is “patently unconstitutional, against parliamentary tradition, and simply illogical,” even as he pointed out that the House has at present 229 congressmen, compared to only 23 senators.

‘Put it in writing’

Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Committee on Public Affairs, said Mrs. Arroyo should come out with a manifesto signifying her intention to step down in 2010.

“I think that is one of the efforts that they can do, but that is not enough. Even if she writes it using her own blood, if she’s not sincere with it then nothing will happen,” Iniguez told reporters in an interview at the Bonifacio Monument in Balintawak where the multi-sectoral group Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME) held their rally against Cha-cha yesterday.

Although it would be hard for the President to win back the trust of the people due to her low credibility, Iniguez stressed that coming out with such a manifesto might just be the first step to achieve that.

“The impediment or obstacle to that is her lack of credibility. That’s why she should seriously make an extra effort to make herself credible,” Iniguez said.

He cited the time when Mrs. Arroyo said she would not run in the 2004 presidential elections, but actually did.

“That can make a significant step. If she will change her ways that’s very good, but it remains to be seen,” Iniguez said.

Rally organizers said around 2,000 participated in their protest action yesterday.

Among the groups present were Partido ng Manggagawa, Alab Katipunan, Bisig, Akbayan, Lupa, and Kilusan Para sa Pambansang Demokrasya.

Iniguez and Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias earlier said they were open to any means to oust Mrs. Arroyo.

Their call came in the wake of the rejection by the House justice committee of the fourth and latest impeachment complaint against the President.

No extension

The Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP), headed by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, rejected any attempt to extend the term of incumbent elected officials.

Jesuit priest Romeo Intengan, co-founder of the PDSP with Gonzales, said “any such move will be inviting political trouble.”

He reiterated the party’s position that instead of considering proposals to amend the Constitution before 2010, government should ensure that the forthcoming elections will be clean and credible and will be conducted as scheduled by the Constitution.

“The PDSP is for Charter change, but it should be for the right reasons, at the right time, in the right way and with clear consent from the people,” Intengan said.

He said his party supports Cha-cha to effect fundamental political reforms but they believe that the best and most democratic way to do this is through a constitutional convention.

PDSP general secretary, lawyer Ramel Muria, noted that changing the Constitution now “is a move that is unpopular and divisive.”

“There are more fundamental needs of the country than changing the Constitution, a move that is unpopular and very divisive in the present dispensation as it is widely feared to be a mere ploy for some other political purpose,” Muria said.

“In the face of the forthcoming 2010 elections, ensuring that there will be clean and credible elections is the more urgent challenge to the nation and the government,” he said.

He however clarified that PDSP remains supportive of Charter change “done at the right time to effect fundamental political reforms the country needs.”

He said the PDSP believes that when it is time for Charter change, it should be through a constitutional convention, being “the best and the most democratic way of changing our Constitution.”

Call for change

Former President Joseph Estrada called for a change of administration to solve poverty in the country.

In a speech before the members of the People’s Movement Against Poverty (PMAP) at the San Juan Arena in San Juan City, Estrada said a change of the present administration is the only solution to the existing poverty in the country at present.

“The Philippines will not progress as long as it has a president who not only fails to understand the plight of the impoverished, but who refuses to extend true compassion for the poor. As long as the Philippines has this kind of leader, we have no hope for a better tomorrow,” Estrada said.

He said the country needs a leader who respects the law.

“Our countrymen will remain hungry, our farmers will remain oppressed and the nation will not progress. Our only hope for change now is through a change in administration, a change in leadership. Because this country needs someone who respects government institutions, someone who respects electoral processes and most important someone who respects the citizens of this republic, be they rich or poor,” Estrada said.

He said the Arroyo administration is misleading the Filipino people from the truth in its claims that there is economic growth in the country.

“The truth is that the Filipino people continue to grow poorer and hungrier. The recent World Food survey by Gallup International placed the Philippines at no. 5 in the ranking of countries around the world experiencing hunger,” he said.

He added that the reason why almost 36 million Filipinos or 40 percent of the total population in the country are experiencing hunger is due to the Arroyo administration’s lack of understanding on people’s needs.

He also called on PMAP members to reject all moves for Cha-cha and make sure that the elections in 2010 will push through.

Estrada said he would lead the PMAP in opposing Cha- cha.

“We must fight any efforts to steal again the power of the people to choose their leaders. With you, we will reject any moves to change the Constitution to make it favor selfish and self-serving interests,” Estrada said.

San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, one of the founders of PMAP, said the fight against poverty continues.

“We will continue this fight until the people gain real freedom: freedom from extrajudicial killings, freedom from oppression, freedom from poverty,” Ejercito said.

Estrada’s spokeswoman Margaux Salcedo said the PMAP gains relevance because the maneuvers for Cha-cha continue and are real.

“With a majority in the House allied with the administration, it is not impossible that the current president might stay in power longer than 2010.”

“Since 2001, we have witnessed massive electoral fraud with the ‘Hello Garci’ scandal; the filing of a sham impeachment complaint and bribery of congressmen to avoid impeachment, as attested to by Cong. Jose de Venecia; 403 extrajudicial killings since 2001, according to the Commission on Human Rights; and worst of all, practically giving away Philippine territory in Mindanao through a Memorandum of Agreement in order to force Charter change,” Salcedo said. – With Christina Mendez, Jose Rodel Clapano, Helen Flores, Paolo Romero