Let next Congress decide on Cha-cha: House leader

DEPUTY SPEAKER  Rufus Rodriguez on Tuesday said the House of Representatives should just leave the issue of Charter change (Cha-cha) to the next Congress.  

Rodriguez made the appeal after the chamber referred Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 to its committee on constitutional amendments, which Rodriguez previously chaired.

“Obviously, we have no more time to tackle the resolution and other Cha-cha proposals before we adjourn for the election campaign in two weeks, on Feb. 5. So let’s allow the next Congress to decide on Cha-cha," Rodriguez said.

He said the next 19th Congress should resolve during the early part of its three-year term what to do with Cha-cha.

“If we decide to pursue it, then we give it priority, along with Covid-19 pandemic response measures. If not, then we set it aside and focus on legislation. This way, we will not be wasting time and taxpayers’ money,” Rodriguez said.

He further noted that the next president should indicate to his allies in Congress early in his six-year term what he would want them to do with Cha-cha, adding that the matter will not take off without the direct or indirect agreement.

“To avoid such suspicion and for Cha-cha to succeed, it should be done on the first year of the next Congress and the first year of the six year term of the next President”, he added.

RBH No. 7, authored by Pampanga Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr., is the newest Cha-cha measure in the House.

Gonzales proposed in the resolution that the President’s term of office of be fixed at five years with one reelection, instead of the present six years without reelection.

Of the constitutional amendment measures proposed in the House, only RBH No. 2, authored principally by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, has been approved by the chamber.

It was passed on third and final reading on June 1, 2021 and sent the next day to the Senate, where it is still pending.

Velasco had proposed economic Cha-cha by inserting the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in certain provisions of the Constitution relating to the economy.

“We could have succeeded with the Speaker’s initiative if we had the support of the Senate,” Rodriguez said.( Filane Mikee Cervantes)