By Azer Parrocha/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte wants lawmakers in both chambers of the Congress to discuss charter change among themselves first before presenting their proposal to the public, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this clarification after Duterte did not mention federalism in his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday (July 22) but told the media that talks on Cha-cha are “better left in conferences that are not allowed to be open to the public”.
“What he’s saying is, ‘Stop arguing about this, you cannot even agree among yourselves. Just talk within yourselves and then come out with a joint statement on how you will go about amending the charter. If you cannot do it, then let’s have people changing it’,” Panelo said.
“O, pag-usapan ninyo na lang muna kasi maki-criticize lang kayo,” ‘yan ang punto ni Presidente (Talk about it first because you will be criticized. That’s the point the President wanted to make),” he added.
Decide on a method
According to Panelo, the Congress could not yet agree on a method of amending the Constitution since they previously disagreed on convening a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass).
Panelo said Congress could still open its doors to a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con).
“Hindi naman sila nagkakasundo sa manner ng pag-amend ng Constitution sa Kongreso eh (They can’t agree on the manner of amending the Constitution n the Congress). Siguro (Perhaps) it’s better for them to discuss among themselves bago sila lumabas (before they go public),” Panelo said.
Panelo, meanwhile, emphasized that aside from the proposed federal Constitution drafted by Duterte’s team of experts, the Consultative Committee to Review the 1987 Constitution, there are other proposals that may be considered.
“Alam mo ‘yung recommendation, hindi lang naman galing kay Justice Puno saka iyong mga miyembro. Maraming proposed changes sa Constitution, (You know the recommendation, it’s not only from former Chief Justice Reynato Puno and the members. There are many proposed changes in the Constitution)” Panelo said.
Not giving up
Panelo, meanwhile, rejected claims that Duterte had abandoned his push to shift to a federal system of government since he did not mention it in his SONA.
“Sinabi niya bang ano, suko na siya? Hindi. (Did he say he was giving up? He didn’t),” Panelo said.
“Ang sinabi niya mukhang hindi na makukuha sa kaniyang term (What he said is that he is aware that it may not be realized during his term),” he added.
He explained that the federalism push will still be up to the Congress to prioritize.
“Kung malabo iyong Kongreso, eh malabo rin sa kaniya iyon; kasi sila naman ang magde-decide, hindi naman si Presidente – (If Congress is undecided, then it’s a far shot for him; because it is them who should decide, not him, the President) unless we have a different setup of government,” Panelo said.
Even if federalism hurdles Congress, Filipinos will still decide in a plebiscite whether to support or reject it.
“Eventually, ang Pilipino pa rin ang magde-decide (the Filipinos will be the ones to decide),” Panelo said.
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