Charter change hearings take a back seat

The House of Representatives is shelving all talk of revising the 1987 Constitution as it focuses on passing next year’s proposed P4.5-trillion budget in the middle of a pandemic.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday reaffirmed the 302-member chamber’s commitment to focus on the budget and “set aside other issues,” including constitutional amendments aimed, among others, at extending the term of lawmakers and lifting restrictions on foreign investment.

“For me, we can tackle Cha-cha (Charter change) once our problem with the pandemic is over,” the Taguig lawmaker said in a statement.

“The timing is bad. How can we hold a plebiscite where people have to line up while COVID-19 is still with us? That’s not counting the campaign period,” Cayetano said.

The chair of the House constitutional amendments, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, earlier told reporters there would be “no more discussions on Cha-cha this year.”

“The committee, upon the Speaker’s suggestion, will meet in January or February next year. We have to concentrate on the measures against COVID-19,” he said.

Cayetano said the 18th Congress should be proactive and focused if it wished to come up with an inclusive budget that could address the nation’s problems.

“Some people want to do a people’s initiative. We agree that we need to discuss Charter change, but we want it to be inclusive in the same way that the budget will be inclusive,” he said.

When pandemic is over

Cayetano said the House hoped to pass the 2021 national budget in record time. “We are aiming for mid- or late November so that we can give solutions to the problems of our countrymen. If after the budget hearings the pandemic is over, then we can discuss Cha-cha,” he said.

“We will work together diligently with the Senate, our counterparts, with all the sectors, and with the Executive to come up with a very, very good budget in 2021,” he said.

It remains to be seen whether Cayetano will remain the House leader then.

In July 2019, the Nacionalista stalwart entered into a verbal agreement with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan to let the latter take over as Speaker after 15 months.

The turnover is supposed to take place in October or early November.