'Noy secretly wants Cha-cha'

MANILA, Philippines - House Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman raised suspicions yesterday that the ongoing squabble between Malacañang and Congress’ renewed efforts to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution in Congress was a farce as President Aquino is secretly in favor of Charter change.

Lagman was commenting on Aquino’s avowal that amending the Constitution was not his priority and the insistence of the leaders of the House of Representatives to pursue Charter change.

He said he found it hard to believe that “a Chief Executive who keeps his congressional subalterns on a such a tight leash...would give them such leeway on a matter as fundamental as amending the Constitution.”

Lagman recalled that Aquino ordered lawmakers to impeach former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, “approve with inordinate haste the 2011 budget that he did not spend,” and sign the “defective” law postponing the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. “The Palace and the congressional majority are putting on a great show, a moro-moro, one that will rely on sheer numbers of the majority to railroad their agenda for Cha-cha (Charter change), while keeping the President above the fray so that he can continue to enjoy his personal popularity into the 2013 elections – for the benefit of administration candidates – and beyond,” he said.

He added that it is unbelievable that the Palace is trying to detach itself from the Cha-cha train when the allies of the President are the ones pushing for this constitutional change.

“The less the people see of the President in this controversial matter, the better his handlers think it will be. Perhaps he was simply practicing for such invisibility when he refused to show his face at the holocaust aftermath of the recent typhoons,” Lagman said.

Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay, on the other hand, said Aquino would show that he was sticking to his position but would give his allies in the Senate and the House the go-signal to pursue Charter change.

Misamis Occidental Rep. Loreto Ocampos, chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments, said the resumption of the hearing on pending Charter change bills is scheduled on Oct. 11.

“We have invited representatives of different sectors to discuss their views,” Ocampos said, adding that business sector representatives have already presented their position during a hearing in August.

“This is the initiative of Congress. I am very positive that at a certain point, there will be a convergence of agreement between the executive and the legislative,” he said.