Roque hits Cha-cha ‘railroad’

Kabayan partylist Rep. Harry Roque INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Kabayan partylist Rep. Harry Roque has denounced a purported attempt by fellow lawmakers to railroad changes to the Constitution at a House committee hearing marred by a shouting match between Surigao representatives Robert Ace Barbers and Prospero Pichay.

“I cannot understand what the urgency is,” Roque told reporters Wednesday after the hearing of the committee on constitutional amendments adjourned.

Roque, who opposes charter change, explained that the committee voting between a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) or Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) was “premature because there is a prejudicial issue.”

He was referring to the Constitutional provision that says the decision on the method for changing the charter would be made by Congress, referring to the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“The mode would either way have to be agreed upon with the Senate and I do not know if the voting will be jointly or separate. That is why we should resolve first the prejudicial issue of a joint or separate voting,” Roque said.

Roque, who told the committee he would rather that a people’s initiative decided the mode, said the failure of the House committee “to railroad” the voting was a “victory for those who do not want Charter change at this point.”

Roque and other lawmakers like Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza want more consultations with the public and experts on Con-Ass and Con-Con.

Former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was among those pushing for a Con-Ass. She reminded her colleagues that  President Duterte is set to issue an executive order this month creating a constitutional commission and said she hoped the House could form itself  into an assembly by November.

Amending the 30-year-old Constitution would lead to a shift from a unitary-presidential form of government to a federal-parliamentary form, one of the priority measures of President Duterte.

In a Con-Con, the regions would elect representatives to propose amendments to the Constitution. In a Con-Ass, Congress would sit down to propose amendments to the Charter.  In both cases, the proposed amendments would require approval by the people in a referendum.

Mr. Duterte has said he wants a Con-Ass, citing the huge cost of convening a Con-Con.

Barbers told reporters Wednesday he believed the committee did not attempt to railroad Charter change.

“We are still in the initial deliberations. What we are deciding on is what [method] the committee on constitutional amendments will adopt,” Barbers said, adding that the vote would still be referred to a technical working group.

Barbers apologized to the public and the House of Representatives as a whole for Wednesday’s incident, when he and Pichay engaged in a heated argument and nearly came to blows.