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Thursday, June 01, 2006
Bishops endorse consultations on Charter change
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY -- The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has expressed support for the ongoing people's consultations on Charter change.
The endorsement signaled a major breakthrough as the proponents of the Charter change prepare to file a people's initiative petition with the Commission of Elections (Comelec) to change the form of government in the country from presidential bicameral to unicameral parliamentary
The endorsement was made after Jaro Archbishop and CBCP president Angelo Lagdameo met with Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (Ulap) president and Bohol Governor Enrico Aumentado at the Archbishop's Palace in Jaro, Iloilo City Monday.
Aumentado said Ulap and Sigaw ng Bayan have already held consultative summits in 62 provinces, and will hold similar forums in the 17 remaining provinces, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao, beginning this week under the Ulap sa TOP (Tao at Organisasyon sa Pagbabago) information campaign.
Next week, Ulap will expand its consultations and advocacy campaign in 20 highly urbanized cities and independent component cities across the country and in Metro Manila's 14 cities and three municipalities, which have more than one million registered voters.
"Our objective is to engage our people in a meaningful discussion on our proposed shift to a parliamentary government," said Aumentado.
Aumentado further said he and Bishop Lagdameo agreed that the information drive will "ensure the shared participation of the majority of our countrymen from all points of the archipelago in the ongoing discussions on Charter change."
The CBCP head reiterated the Catholic bishops' support for constitutional reforms to remedy some of the country's lingering woes, Aumentado said.
The people's initiative drive, which Sigaw ng Bayan and ULAP launched in March, seeks to amend Articles Vl and Vll of the Constitution and end 60 years of a US-style presidential government and bicameral Congress.
The present system of government is being blamed for the country's lingering economic woes by local government executives and more than 500 allied non-government organizations.
Aumentado said the nine million signatures gathered in the people's initiative drive have been verified and only a handful remained to be certified by the local Comelec to complete the process that has covered 213 congressional districts.
This and Lagdameo's full backing of the consultations have made the people's initiative the only viable option to amend the 1987 Charter, following the deadlock in talks between the Senate and House of Representatives on Charter amendments.
The Senate-House talks have all but collapsed as there are only three session days left before the 13th Congress adjourns its second regular session.
The governor also said he stressed to the CBCP head that Ulap has set no timeline for completing the proposed parliamentary shift "because the basic concern of local executives is not to rush Charter reform but to consult with our constituencies and enable our people to make an informed decision on our proposal."
He said Lagdameo was "very happy to learn about our position, especially our diligent efforts to educate our people on the proposed shift to a unicameral parliamentary government."
In its pastoral letter dated April 7, the CBCP said, "We recognize and respect those many concerned and thoughtful Filipinos who see constitutional reform as a necessary remedy to the country's many problems at present."
Forum participants were asked to share their views on what powers they would like the President to keep or give up to the would-be Prime Minister under this new government setup, Aumentado said.
In previous interviews, Sigaw ng Bayan spokesman Raul Lambino pointed out that most of the forum participants expressed support for the adoption of a unicameral parliament that would end divided government and ensure savings of up to P250 billion a year.
Lambino said the government could use the P250 billion in projected savings to dramatically increase public spending on human capital formation and other anti-poverty initiatives. (EASD)
(June 1, 2006 issue)
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