MANILA, Philippines—The cat is out of the bag, but President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has so far ignored a clamor to knock it down.

Speaker Prospero Nograles Thursday said he had received a draft resolution with 175 signatures calling for the convening of a constituent assembly (Con-ass) to amend the Constitution.

Nograles said he intended to file the measure drafted by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte when Congress reconvenes April 13 after a month-long Lenten break.

“The resolution of Villafuerte is now in my hands, he turned it over to me. So I have decided to file it because it has 175 signatures already,” Nograles said. He said he himself had signed it.

Malacañang is officially staying away from the House move, insisting that Charter change (Cha-cha) is “dead” as far as the President is concerned.

“Congress can do whatever they want under their mandate. We will respect their decision,” Undersecretary Anthony Golez, deputy presidential spokesperson, told reporters.

Ms Arroyo has not taken a public position on the House of Representatives’ initiative despite calls by the opposition for her to squelch the issue that resurfaced on Tuesday when Sen. Manuel Villar said that the Villafuerte resolution was only 20 votes shy of the magic number of 197.

Asked if he expected more signatures to the resolution on Thursday, Nograles said: “No. I will file it as it is.”

Villafuerte has said he was seeking 197 signatures to the resolution. This is the number, he said, required by the Constitution to effect Charter change with the Senate and the House of Representatives voting jointly.

The Senate, which has dismissed the House initiative, contends that the constitutional mandate for a constituent assembly to institute changes in the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of each of the chambers voting separately.

Expect a great debate

A challenge in the Supreme Court by the Senate is expected if the House approves the Villafuerte resolution.

Nograles did not specify what the resolution contained. Critics said that it seeks to adopt the parliamentary or federal system that will effectively extend Ms Arroyo’s term, due to end in June 2010.

The President’s son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, said that the resolution does not call for a postponement of the 2010 balloting or extension of sitting elective officials.

“I’m sure there will be a great debate on the floor. Let’s just wait for it. All of these things will come out. That’s the reason why, for purposes of transparency, so that there would not be a lot of innuendos on what this is, let’s just put it on the floor so that all these will come out. I think that’s the best thing we can do,” Nograles said.

He spoke at a press conference a day after former Speaker Jose de Venecia announced that he had turned down an offer by Mikey to reinstate him if he could get the Villafuerte resolution approved—a claim the President’s son denied.

Once filed, the measure would have to be approved by the committee on constitutional amendments, Nograles said.

‘Not lapdogs’

Nograles said he had a separate resolution seeking to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution, although it did not specify the mode to be used to effect this change.

The Speaker also said he wanted his resolution and that of Villafuerte to be tackled at the same time. “They are germane to each other,” he said. “The question is how do you really amend the Constitution.”

He added that he hopes the issue would be brought to the Supreme Court so that it could finally settle once and for all how the modes of Charter change work.

Nograles also said that Malacañang had no hand in any Cha-cha push in the House.

He said he had spoken with the President numerous times and she “never, never, never” talked to him or pressured him about the initiative.

“I was not elected to push Cha-cha. That was never a precondition or a campaign promise,” he said. “We are just supporters of the administration and allies, but not lapdogs. So leave us a little dignity.”

Not for Mikey to offer

Nograles dismissed De Venecia’s claim that Mikey was out to oust him after he led the effort to install him in February 2008 when the Pangasinan representative was dislodged after his namesake son exposed shenanigans in the NBN-ZTE deal.

“Let me say again for the record that the speakership is not for Mikey to offer. We are elected by our peers,” Nograles said. “If (De Venecia) wants the speakership again, then he has to fight for it and get the votes.”

Nograles conceded that the passage of the P11.3-billion budget for automated elections next year and the earlier filing for certificates of candidacies “may upset the timetable for Cha-cha.”

“We have to make a reassessment and repositioning of our stand together with leaders of the party, leaders of the coalition,” Nograles said. “That question can only be answered when Congress opens. I cannot answer it now,” he said.

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño said he would ask the House ethics committee to investigate the “indecent proposal” that Mikey and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez reportedly made to De Venecia.

‘Black propaganda’

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said that claims linking Ms Arroyo to Charter change were mere “black propaganda.”

“The fact that the administration created a search committee to screen candidates for president, vice president and senator is proof that the issue of Charter change is dead,” he said.

“This will go straight to court,” Sen. Manuel Roxas II said, warning that the move to amend the Charter now would prove disastrous since it would pit the Senate against the House.

“I’m confident that our Supreme Court magistrates will exercise independence and make the correct ruling on the issue,” Roxas said, dismissing speculation that with vacancies in the 15-member tribunal to be filled by Ms Arroyo a ruling could be issued favorable to the Palace.

Said Sen. Loren Legarda: “The House amending the Constitution without Senate concurrence is illegal, immoral and unconscionable.”

But Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said that Cabinet secretaries, including himself, were looking at elective posts next year. “This is the best proof that there will be elections next year.” With reports from Michael Lim Ubac, Christian V. Esguerra, TJ Burgonio, Dona Z. Pazzibugan and Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon