Nograles urged: No constituent assembly at joint session

MANILA, Philippines - Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said yesterday that Speaker Prospero Nograles should keep his word not to take advantage of the joint session of Congress on July 27 to persuade the Senate to go along with the House of Representatives in convening a constituent assembly (con-ass) to amend the Constitution.

Pimentel said he could not blame his colleagues in the Senate for threatening to boycott or walk out from the joint session on the opening day of regular session of Congress due to apprehensions that administration allies in the House would seize the opportunity to woo senators to cooperate with House Resolution 1109 on the holding of con-ass.

“It is reassuring to hear Speaker Nograles that he will not do that,” he said.

The minority leader said he himself does not buy the idea that the administration-dominated House would resort to the outrageous scheme since the agenda of the joint session should be limited to President Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).

However, Pimentel said the Palace and its legislative cohorts are so desperate in pushing for Charter change to keep Mrs. Arroyo in power beyond 2010.

With or without such plan, Pimentel said he does not intend to show up at the joint session of Congress.

He said he has purposely avoided attending all previous joint sessions to hear Mrs. Arroyo’s SONA, except the first time she did in 200l after ascending to the presidency as successor of former President Joseph Estrada.

“I felt it was just a waste of time to listen to the SONA because she has reneged on her promises and commitments that she had enumerated in her speech,” Pimentel said in a statement.

“I lost my trust in President Arroyo because she failed to make good on her promises. The SONA that she delivers year after year is nothing but a charade. Why should we take the trouble of attending this event and listen to her programs and commitments that she does not intend to keep? In other words, we should not allow ourselves to be fooled by her empty blandishments.”

In her past SONAs, Mrs. Arroyo promised to significantly reduce poverty and unemployment, heal the political wounds and divisions of the nation, end Muslim insurgency, forge a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, upgrade the standards of education, solve malnutrition, starvation and health problems, curb graft and corruption, balance the national budget, improve the human rights situation, stop and end extra-judicial killings and raise the country’s global competitiveness.

Pimentel said none of these promises have been fulfilled and the nation is worse as ever.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said he would adjourn the session of the Senate at once if his allies at the House push through with con-ass during the SONA.

He said it is unconstitutional to tackle any other agenda when Congress opens on July 27.

Meanwhile, in a radio interview on dzBB, Enrile said former President Fidel Ramos has no right to demand from the President to state her real political intentions.

“He (Ramos) should not lecture a sitting President no matter who (he is),” said Enrile, who thinks it would be more prudent if Mrs. Arroyo would not seek a congressional seat in next year’s elections.

Enrile and ex-president Ramos were instrumental in the ouster of former President Ferdinand Marcos during the 1986 People Power revolution.

He said none of those in the Ramos cabinet had asked him of his intentions when his term of office was already winding down.

“When he was still President, nobody asked him to state his intention. Don’t think that the incumbent President (is) your subordinate,” Enrile said.

He said it is the prerogative of Mrs. Arroyo to remain mum on her political plans. “You should understand the dynamics of politics.”