MANILA, Philippines -- Members of the House of Representatives who are pushing for joint voting of the two house of Congress in a constituent assembly for Charter change may not get the nod of the Liberal Party, according to one of its members.

Quezon Representative Lorenzo Tanada III said the LP already has a stand on the mode of amending the Constitution, and believes having a constitutional convention is the best way to go about it.

"We have an old position and as of now, it has not changed. We are for a constitutional convention," Tanada said in a phone interview.

But he also said no new consultations within the party have been held following new moves by the President's party mate, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, to push for a constituent assembly where some administration allies insist that the House and the Senate should vote as just one body.

But he thinks the LP, with 15 members in the House, will stick to its position.

"My feeling is it will not be changed," he said.

According to Tanada, he is not among the lawmakers who have been approached to sign Villafuerte's resolution, and has not seen it.

But if implored to back it up, he said he would reject the resolution.

"If there should be Cha-cha, I think it should be through a constitutional convention whose members would be elected in 2010. No Cha-cha before then, that's my personal opinion," he said.

House Speaker Prospero Nograles has acknowledged that the con-ass resolution needs the votes of the LP and the Nationalist People's Coalition, which are part of the administration's rainbow coalition.

But NPC regional director and Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra earlier said that 28 members of the party want a constitutional convention.

The House's latest move to convene a constituent assembly with joint voting -- a process that would render the Senate a feeble minority instead of the co-equal body that it is -- has fueled fears that the President wants to extend her term. This has been denied by Malacañang as well as her allies in the House.

Meanwhile, the House committee on constitutional amendments is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Tuesday on Charter change.

But its chair, La Union Rep. Victor Ortega, said Villafuerte's resolution has not been referred to his committee.

The public hearing coincides with the hearing of the House committee on justice, which is evaluating the fourth impeachment complaint against the President.

These simultaneous hearings pose a problem for the minority, some of whose members belong to the two committees and cannot be at both at the same time.

House Deputy Minority Leader Satur Ocampo said the minority is preparing for the two hearings. But it might also ask either committee to reschedule their hearings to ensure that the members of the minority would be able to fully participate in both hearings.