The House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will pass a resolution allowing “separate voting by the House of Representatives and the Senate” in proposing amendments to the 1987 Constitution, an official said Monday.
Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. said the House had opted to withdraw a resolution seeking to convene Congress into constituent assembly that the House leadership under then-Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez approved in January.
He said passing a new resolution on Charter change would simplify the process of rewriting the Constitution to effect the shift to federalism.
The House committee on constitutional amendments, now led by Leyte Rep. Vicente Veloso, will begin its deliberations today, Tuesday, on the proposed Charter change.
Andaya said he had already talked to Veloso about the matter.
“We will just withdraw House Concurrent Resolution [HCR] 9 or the Con-Ass resolution and pass a new one to include separate voting by the House of Representatives and the Senate during the proposed amendments to the Constitution,” Andaya said.
Alvarez, the principal author of HCR 9, had been firm on his stand that the House would no longer seek to amend the Constitution through a constituent assembly but propose amendments on its own and have those submitted directly to the people in a referendum. The Alvarez resolution was approved under the stewardship of then House constitutional amendments committee chairman, Roger Mercado.
Alvarez had earlier said the House does not need the Senate to amend the Constitution, but the Arroyo-led House believe otherwise.
“The new resolution will express the sentiment of the House of Representatives to push Charter-change,” Andaya said.
Andaya, chairman of the House committee on rules, said the new resolution will be discussed in his committee to have it included in the Order of Business or the agenda of the plenary.
“I will be the one to defend the resolution during our rules committee meeting,” Andaya said. The members of the House committee on rules meet on Tuesdays.
Veloso on Monday said his committee would not entertain any proposal in the draft charter that would put in it the position of Prime Minister.
Veloso said even the Palace’s consultative committee did not include in its draft federal charter the position of Prime Minister.
“I doubt the committee will be entertaining the thought that we will be having a Prime Minister,” Veloso said. He said his panel would be guided by the Con-Com’s draft in rewriting the 1987 Constitution.
Veloso’s assurance came amid talk that Arroyo would want to assume the position of Prime Minister, but Arroyo dismissed it as “black propaganda.”