The House of Representatives of the 19th Congress approved on Tuesday night the proposed “hybrid” Constitutional Convention (Con-con) as the mode for Charter change (Cha-cha). Given the seeming rush approval of the House-crafted Joint Resolution No. 6, Senator Ronaldo “Bato” dela Rosa fears this might still arrive dead in the water anew at the Senate.
Dela Rosa is among the Senators who were identified as keeping an open mind to the renewed initiatives to amend the country’s 1987 Constitution. At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay last Wednesday, Dela Rosa confirmed he is indeed agreeable to Cha-cha, specifically on removing or amending the party list system provision. Without names, Dela Rosa deplored the party list system served only as “redundancy” in Congress, citing most of them come from the same political families.
Dela Rosa admitted his confidence of helping move the Cha-cha at the Senate have significantly lowered. As the chairman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revisions of codes, Sen.Robinhood Padilla mentioned Dela Rosa as amenable to Cha-cha. With Padilla’s proposed mode calling for Congress convening into Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass), Dela Rosa noted, the 24 Senators would certainly press for “voting separately” from the much bigger number of Congressmen.
Padilla revealed conducting quietly a headcount on possible support from Senators on his proposed Joint Senate-House Resolution on Cha-cha. During our news forum last Wednesday at the Café Adriatico located in Remedios Circle, Padilla also named Senators Francis “Tol” Tolentino and Christopher “Bong” Go as among those likely to support his Cha-cha bill.
The four Senators come from the PDP-Laban led by former President Rodrigo Duterte who strongly supported the Cha-cha moves during his administration. “If you will ask me, (I have the support of) four PDP-Laban,” Padilla declared.
Dela Rosa echoed though Padilla’s concern that the latest attempts to amend the Constitution might not get traction as it did in the past. Despite the ruling administration party PDP-Laban majority in the previous Congress, the so-called “independent republics” at the Senate thumbed down Cha-cha.
Padilla also counts on Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros. “I believe Sen. Koko, an advocate of federalism, (would support the constitutional amendment) and Sen. Risa also believed in parliamentary (form of government),” Padilla noted.
Padilla added to his headcount his fellow actors-turned-politicians, Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada and Lito Lapid: “I can count on my partners in the movie, Revilla, Estrada, Lapid.” Padilla likewise eyes Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Mark Villar and Cynthia Villar who he believe will all support Cha-cha to further strengthen the country’s economy. “I think I can win Win (Gatchalian). and I believe that Sen. Mark Villar, who used to be part of the Cabinet of former president Duterte (will join me).”
Padilla candidly admitted he needs more than half of the Senate for the Cha-cha to finally take off. Speaking in Tagalog, the Muslim convert Senator turned to his faith to carry him on. “Although I need 18 votes, God willing, if it (committee report) will get to the plenary, I will still be able to keep the minds of other Senators open.”
Given the Lower House version of “hybrid” Con-con, Dela Rosa conceded it would be likely “an exercise in futility” for Sen.Padilla to push Cha-cha. While Padilla wants amendments to be limited only to the “restrictive” economic provisions, Dela Rosa pointed out, it would still open the floodgates to include political provisions especially in the “hybrid” Con-con calling for elected delegates in all congressional districts.
The Cha-cha bills are being shepherded at the Lower Chamber by Cagayan de Oro City Rep.Rufus Rodriguez who is Padilla’s counterpart as the chairman of the House committee on constitutional amendments. At the resumption of the House plenary deliberations on Cha-cha bills last Wednesday, Rodriguez maintained the House version “in effect” would also amend the economic provisions of the Constitution but through Con-con.
The House-proposed Con-con shall be composed of 63 appointed delegates while 316 delegates will be elected, or it approximates the present total number of Congressmen. Rodriguez filed an accompanying bill seeking to provide the holding of Con-con out of any available funds from the government’s annual budget. It likewise sets the term of office of the Con-con delegates on Nov. 21, 2023 until June 30, 2023.
The House version provides for the election of the Con-con delegates that will be held simultaneously with the conduct of the scheduled Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on the last Monday of Oct. 2023.
In the Con-Ass version of the Senate committee, Padilla will hold already the plebiscite and synchronize this also with the holding of the BSKE later this year. Thus, the Senate committee will follow a timeline that targets to start the Cha-cha plenary debate at the Senate floor by August this year. Padilla kicked off yesterday in Davao City the Senate public hearing on Cha-cha.
Dela Rosa, however, noted the other Senators like him who are previously inclined to support Cha-cha would now have qualms about it. “We really lack the numbers. My heart tells me we really need to do this (Cha-cha), but in my mind, it can’t be done. It (Cha-cha) is now in my neck,” Dela Rosa bantered while pointing to his neck to describe his “lowering confidence” on the chances of Cha-cha at the Senate.
Currently on his first term at the Senate, the 61-year old Dela Rosa admitted he has learned to calibrate his views as a lawmaker. “Baka dalawa na lang kami matira ni Sen.Padilla,” Dela Rosa quipped.
The former top cop of the country turned Senator likened his tandem with the actor-politician to the popular DC Comics duo of “Batman and Robin.”
He chortled at the thoughts: “Baka tawagin kami ‘Bato’man and Robin.” The Senator punned and guffawed.