MANILA, Philippines -- A request by Malacañang to the committee on foreign affairs at the House of Representatives to review the baseline bill involving the disputed Spratly Islands has been deplored by the panel chairman, saying this will merely delay the passage of the measure.

Despite his feelings on the matter, however, Cebu Representative Antonio Cuenco will still convene the body on April 21, or before the House resumes its sessions at 4:00 p.m.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita has written to Speaker Prospero Nograles to ask the House to reconsider the bill and treat the disputed Spratlys as a “regime of islands, instead of enclosing it in the country’s archipelagic baselines.”

“I’m not happy. Siyempre, prerogative ng Congress [to craft its own version of the bill],” Cuenco said over the phone Monday when asked to comment on Ermita’s letter.

“With due respect to the executive’s position, I don’t agree with them. However, I will submit to the will of the majority,” he said.

Cuenco said the Palace’s proposal would mean a delay in the approval of the bill as it would have to be sent back to the committee for amendments.

House Bill 3216 was approved on second reading in December 2007 but has remained pending on the floor for third and final reading.

And the Cuenco maintained that once a measure has been approved on second reading, it could not longer be recommitted to the committee.

Cuenco also pointed out the need to pass the bill in compliance with the May 2009 deadline provided for under the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea.

“This is why I deplore the executive position because it will just delay the approval of the bill. It will result in a delay if we send it back to the committee,” he said.

“It’s a delay that I’m concerned about. We have to work fast on this, time is running out,” he said.