ILOILO CITY – Senator Edgardo Angara yesterday said there is a need to amend some provisions of the Constitution, but he will only support the propose changes if these will take effect after 2010.

“If the proposal says it will be submitted to a plebiscite in 2010, I’m okay with it, and that any proposed changes will not take effect before 2010, I will agree with it,” Angara said at the sidelines of the Western Visayas Renewable Energy Congress at the Amigo Terrace Hotel here.

He said that barring any partisanship and any self-interest, there is really a need to amend some provisions of the 1987 Constitution.   

Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo on Thursday said he is supporting a House resolution for a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution, but denied it is aimed to extend the term of his mother, President Gloria Arroyo.

Thus, those aiming for the presidency in 2010 should not worry about the proposal for Charter change, he said.

Angara said that he would prefer a Constituent Assembly because it would be less expensive and the agenda is determinable.

“It has a life span. It cannot be eternal,” he said.

He said, however, that a proposal for Charter change will definitely be thrown out by the Senate if it would push for a federal- unicameral government.

“If federal-unicameral, hindi papasa (it will be rejected). Walang senador na boboto ‘dun (No senator will vote for it). In unicameral, we will be abolished,” Angara said.

For his part, it’s not that he would want to be in the Senate for life, he said. Rather it’s important that there should be a second opinion in lawmaking.

SECOND OPINION

“We provide the check and balance in the legislature. If it becomes unicameral, we’ll deprive the people of a second opinion,” Angara said.

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, the new majority leader, said he believes the chances of succeeding in the Senate of the proposed Charter change are nil.

“It has the same chance as the Filipinos going to the moon. I’m saying this because, in the Senate, we have six presidentiables,” Zubiri, who was also a speaker at the Western Visayas Renewable Energy Congress, said.

He debunked the perception that the new majority that ousted former Senate President Manuel Villar, and replaced him with Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, is favorable to Charter change.

“That is the farthest from the truth. First of all, five members are presidentiables. If we will prioritize it, I guarantee you that the five presidentiables will leave the majority and we will be the new minority,” Zubiri, who is batting for a Constitutional convention, said.

“A word of warning to those who plan to pursue this without the Senate. The plan is that one House can do it all. I don’t think the Constitution allows that. That’s why we are a bicameral body,” he said.*NLG

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