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THE
United Opposition (Uno) on Monday said the
administration’s final push for power beyond 2010 has
apparently started.
Uno made
the statement following the latest Charter-change
(Cha-cha) push made by House Speaker Prospero Nograles,
who said over the weekend that the House of
Representatives intended to bypass the Senate in its
latest effort to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Uno
president and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay on Monday
expressed concern over the apparent confidence shown by
Nograles, that the Supreme Court would act in their
favor when the Charter change issue is brought before
the High Tribunal anew.
“It
seems that the administration’s final push for Charter
change has started….Speaker Nograles has admitted that
the intention of the House is to take the issue to the
Supreme Court. He appears to be very confident and this
should give us all the more reason to prepare to oppose
Cha-cha,” Binay said.
Binay
added the Arroyo administration has apparently set in
motion two strategies to consolidate its hold onto
power.
“Charter
change and martial law are separate roads leading to the
same destination: power beyond 2010. Any move to amend
the Constitution before 2010 will only benefit Mrs.
Arroyo,” he said.
Binay
dismissed the claim of Arroyo’s allies that Charter
change was needed to improve the national economy,
saying, “The amendment on the issue of foreign ownership
is a red herring. We all know that the ultimate goal of
Cha-cha is an extension of Mrs. Arroyo’s hold on power.”
Meanwhile, Uno spokesman Adel Tamano said: “It is
obvious that the proponent, Speaker Nograles, a bar
topnotcher who knows that there is a zero-percent chance
that the initiative will be successful even if it
hurdles the Supreme Court, is being arm-twisted by
Malacañang to push for Charter change and to toe the
party line or else be removed from the speakership.”
Tamano
said the allies of President Arroyo advocating for
Charter change “either have a very low learning curve or
they have become too insensitive to public opinion.”
“To the
average Filipino burdened by the worsening economy,
amending the Charter is farthest from his concerns and
priorities,” he added.
On
Sunday Nograles said he would get the signatures of
three-fourths of all members of the House on a
resolution he introduced, which seeks the amendment of
the Charter’s provision restricting foreign ownership of
land.
Nograles
said his resolution, if approved by a three-fourths
vote, could serve as the basis of raising a point of
constitutional inquiry before the Supreme Court.
“If the
Supreme Court says that Congress can enact laws that, in
effect, will repeal specific provisions in the
Constitution, we might be able to avoid this protracted
legal and constitutional wrangling on how we can attune
the Constitution to the new challenges confronting our
country,” he said.
Tamano
said Uno would oppose any move by President Arroyo and
her allies to amend the Constitution before the 2010
elections.
“More
important than the politics of the issue is the
economics of it—the billions of pesos that will be used
in pushing for Charter change and conducting a national
plebiscite would be much better used for social-welfare
activities during these economically difficult times,”
Tamano said. |
