CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Charter change (Cha-cha) may not be President Aquino’ s priority but it may be an option as his partymates at the House of Representatives have initiated moves to pave the way to tinker with the Constitution that his mother, the former President Corazon Aquino, left as a legacy—the “Freedom Constitution.”
The President’s partymate Rep. Loreto Leo Ocampos (Second District, Misamis Occidental), chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, revealed that his committee has started holding consultative meetings on amending the 1987 Constitution through a constitutional convention (Con-con).
The first charter change public consultation was held on Friday, May 27, at the Mindanao University of Science and Technology (MUST).
Ocampos’s initiative to push for Con-con to amend the charter opposes the proposal filed by Rep. Dato Arroyo of Camarines Sur, former President Gloria Arroyo’s son, to convene Congress into a Constituent Assembly (Con-ass).
Ocampos stressed that Cha-cha consultations primarily intended to disseminate information should kick off on a nationwide scale. He explained through consultations, Cha-cha will be acceptable to the masses.
“We believe that Filipinos support constitutional reforms if they are better informed,” he said.
Ocampos also said the success of Cha-Cha could also hinge on President Aquino’s pronouncements that he has no plans to run for another term nor seek another elective position after his stint in Malacañang .
“The President’s credibility will make or break any moves to amend the Constitution. But his pronouncements are a very good thing because it shows that Malacañang is not involved in any initiative to amend the Charter and thus avoid suspicion that there are many vested interests in this move,” he said.
“I strongly believe this is the most opportune time to propose amendments to the Constitution because the President’s credibility is beyond question,” added Ocampos, a member of the President’s Liberal Party pointed out.
Ocampos added that he favors the election of delegates to the Con-con by 2013 and the effectivity of the amendments to the Constitution in 2016.
