MANILA, Philippines -- While it appears that she has survived the political crisis, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo could still face the threat of a snap election, this time over rising fuel and food prices.

Lawmakers passed on Monday, at the committee level, a bill proposing a snap presidential election as a means to resolve questions on the mandate of a sitting President during crisis.

Members of the House committee on suffrage, chaired by Makati City Representative Teodoro Locsin Jr., unanimously voted to approve House Bill No. 3859 at the close of its hearing on the measure, among others.

Nueva Ecija Representative Eduardo Nonato Joson filed the bill in February, arguing that a snap elections would prevent "opportunists and anarchists'' from bringing the country to "tragedy and perfidy.''

The bill was in response to the mounting street protests calling for Arroyo's resignation over the scuttled $329-million National Broadband Network deal.

House Bill No. 3589 will be referred to the committee on rules, which will set the date for its plenary deliberation.

According to Locsin, while the political crisis has fizzled out, the bill remains relevant especially at a time when the public grapples with skyrocketing prices of fuel and food each day.

"Since Joson filed this, all the steam is gone. From the political crisis, everybody is already thinking of saving money to run for 2010. But something has lent greater urgency to this,'' he said.

"This country has never had social unrest arising directly from hunger. It has had social unrest arise from a sense of personal injustice in the murder of [Benigno] "Ninoy" Aquino, a sense of outrage in the conduct of Joseph Estrada, but never on so fundamental an issue as hunger,'' he added.

If a social unrest would break out of this situation, Locsin said that would be the time the House should adopt the bill to pave the way for "an unquestionably constitutional succession.''

Joson gave this view: "The political crisis is escalating. Then, there's food and peace and order crisis in the offing. If the crisis escalates, we will have either a revolution, food riots, violence on the streets, or coup d' etat. To preempt violence arising from the crisis, it's better that we hold snap elections because the buck stops with the President.''

The lawmakers said that snap elections would be a peaceful, legal means in resolving any crisis.

"Some of us feel that we'd rather have a legislative process determine the change in government, if necessary, than to have a mob in the streets do it,'' Locsin said in an interview. "Not because the mob in the streets may be wrong. Sometimes they're right, but not everybody likes to accept the result,'' he added.

This happened in the aftermath of the February 1986 people's revolt that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and its rerun in January 2001 that toppled President Joseph Estrada, according to the lawmaker.

Following its approval, House Bill No. 3589 will be referred to the committee on rules, which will set the date for its plenary deliberation.

With Congress set to adjourn next week, Locsin said he expected the bill to be debated in the second regular session of the 14th Congress which starts on July 21.

If approved on final reading by the House and the Senate, and enacted into law, the lawmaker said a plebiscite would be held on whether the Constitution should be amended to allow a snap election.

In the proposed snap election, the incumbent President would be qualified to run and serve the remainder of his or her term.

Locsin phrased the amendment this way: "A President shall be elected for a term of six years, provided, however, in the case of the incumbent President, her term will end upon the calling of snap election, in which case, she will be qualified to run for the balance of her term.''

He, however, said he doubted the political opposition would spend P6 billion and challenge the incumbent President in a snap election.

Locsin also said he was unsure if the measure would be approved even on second reading at the administration-dominated House, but said it would be prudent to approve this as a safeguard against "people power'' as a means to force regime change.

"Although the political crisis has fizzled out, I think that since we have never experienced handling social unrest arising from hunger of a massive scale, and given the present conditions, let's have this in our arsenal, so that nobody goes out and says, `Let's go to the streets.' And we'll immediately say: ?No you go to Comelec,?'' he said.

"I just want it hanging there. I don't think it will be approved unless a crisis arises,'' he added.

Joson believed it had "a Chinaman's chance'' of getting approved, but said he expected lawmakers to think hard about approving it when fresh street protests break out over the rising fuel and food prices.

"Congress will be adaptable,'' he said.