"We are no longer dreaming, hopefully we will have the first free unicameral parliamentary government in the Philippines by the first week of July," House Speaker Jose de Venecia said yesterday.

"It is the final hope, the final salvation for the Filipino people," said de Venecia, who was in Bacolod and Negros Occidental yesterday for a series of meetings to push for Charter change, as part of a nationwide campaign.

De Venecia said the push for a unicameral parliamentary government has the support of the congressmen of Western Visayas, including 100 percent of those in Negros Occidental.

He also claimed the move towards charter change is supported by the majority coalition of the House, and the leaders of civil society, religious groups, the private sector, the business community, and many of the people's organization in the Philippines.

"Where before there was resistance, now the tide has turned in favor of charge," he said, "because the presidential government has not worked." He pointed out that since the time of President Corazon Aquino the country has been faced with nine coup attempts and numerous destabilization efforts.

De Venecia yesterday met with leaders of anti Cha-cha groups in Negros Occidental at the provincial Capitol in Bacolod City (see related story), who later staged a picket.

TWO INITIATIVES

"We have a two-tract parallel initiative to achieve the change in the country's form of government, one through both houses of congress and one by direct action of the Filipino people," de Venecia.

De Venecia said these are by getting three-fourths votes of all the members of Congress to amend the Constitution, or through a people's initiatives.

The Constitution does not say a Constituent Assembly will amend the Constitution, it says three-fourths vote of the 236 congressmen and 24 senators, or 260 votes will do it, he said.

"That means we need 195 senators and congressmen, that is what we are working on now and as of Sunday we had 160 signatures, short of 35," he said.

At the same time on March 25 a nationwide wide campaign for a people's initiative will be launched, he said.

The Constitution allows the Filipino people to take direct action to amend Constitution especially now when the Philippines is in crisis and the Senate and the House cannot agree on Constitutional change, he said.

This gridlock, this continuing conflict and crisis can be resolved by the people, he said.

To get a people's initiative off the ground signatures of 12 percent or 4.8 million of Filipino voters, with not less than 3 percent in any congressional district throughout the Philippines is needed, he said.

De Venecia said he expects that the signatures that will be gathered will not only be 4.8 million but could be as many as 8 million.

When the signatures are verified and a campaign period is conducted, by about June 10 or 15, a plebiscite will be held, he said.

The change in the Constitution will depend on the Filipino people who will make the final decision to vote yes or no to Charter change and a shift in the form of government, he said.

Upon the ratification of the amendments of the Constitution the unicameral parliament begins so by July the Senate and the House will be abolished and all of the senators and congressmen will be automatic members of the new parliament, de Venecia said.

"The shift in government will be done by whichever mode is completed first, if we get the 195 signatures in both houses of congress first then we will concentrate on that," he said.

CONCON TOO LONG

Amending the Constitution through a Constitutional Convention will take too long and will be expensive, he said.

Under that method two delegates will be elected per congressional district, he said. There are 212 congressional districts so we will be electing 424 new politicians all over the Philippines that will cost about P8 billion, not including the offices and salaries they will need when elected, he said.

It will also take them about two to four years to draft a new Constitution, based on the Marcos experience, he said.

"Since the nation is in real serious crisis, we must save the nation by changing the structure of government now," he said.

"If we wait another three or four years one of these days a coup de etat will succeed, we are really racing against time," he said.

The Communist and military rightist plotters and some of the leaders of the opposition have declared publicly that they want to bring down the government, he said.

"If we had the luxury of time I would support a Constitutional Convention, but we don't have the luxury time," he said.

ON ELECTIONS

De Venecia said he is opposed to a no election scenario in 2007.

One of the first tasks of an interim parliament is to set the date of the first parliamentary election, he said.

"I am proposing that the first parliamentary elections together with the elections for governors, mayors, vice mayor s, councilors be done in May of 2007," he said.

ARROYO ROLE

Under a parliamentary form of government, President Arroyo will remain as president of the Philippines as chief executive, he said.

She will share power with a prime minister elected by parliament who will be the chief operating officer, de Venecia said.

After 2010 when the term of Arroyo expires then a modified British parliamentary system will be adopted with the prime minister as chief executive and the strong political leader, while the president will have ceremonial functions, he added.

A second step after the change to a unicameral parliamentary government is the shift toward federalism, he added.*CPG

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