MANILA: Paving the way for a shift from presidential to federal form of government, a bill amending the Philippine Constitution has been approved by a powerful committee in the House of Representatives.
Voting 32-7, the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments approved the bill to set up a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) to amend the constitution, a controversial move also known as Charter change or Cha-cha, reported Gulf Today.
Under the bill, members of the House and the Senate are to constitute themselves into a Con-Ass to revise the Constitution for the shift to the federal system as espoused by President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte, the report said.
The bill also reportedly provides that Duterte issue an executive order appointing particularly constitutional law experts to introduce the changes to be tackled by Con-Ass.
Instead of Con-Ass, other lawmakers proposed that the move be undertaken by a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) where the members are to be elected to tackle Charter change, said the news portal.
However, the committee reportedly rejected the proposal, pointing out the heavy expenses involved estimated $140 million as well as the urgency to approve the shift to the federal system during the Duterte administration which ends in 2022.
Congresswoman Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu province in the Visayas, the principal sponsor, also reportedly shrugged off criticisms that her bill was railroaded by the committee dominated by Duterte lawmakers.
“By supporting President Duterte during the election,” Garcia said, “it goes without saying that I also supported his platform of government including federalism.”
Earlier, two Mindanao congressmen – Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte and Prospero Pichay of the neighbouring province of Surigao del Sur – nearly came to blows during the committee hearing.
Barbers, who introduced a similar bill calling for Con-Ass, apparently resented Pichay’s move to postpone voting on the issue, that led to an exchange of expletives “popularized” by Duterte in answering local and international criticisms particularly on alleged rampant human rights violations arising from his war on illegal drugs, reported Gulf Today.
Committee members said Barbers and Pichay came close to a slugfest were it not for the intervention of the proverbial cooler heads, the report said.
