Term limits only incidental with House chacha drive

oIF the proposed charter changes touch the sensitive issue on term limits, it is only incidental, avers House Committee on Constitutional Reforms Chair Constantino Jaraula. Speaking during an interview at Cuentas Claras aired live over Bohol a day before the crucial approval of the voice voting of House Resolution 1450, the Cagayan de Oro representative pressed that the main goal is to put in place the mechanism for the shift in government from presidential to parliamentary.

The Jaraula reaction came amidst reports that several House Representatives gun for the chacha because it ensures them of continued stay in power and it opens a new opportunity for them to keep their posts. Even then, vocal reactions coming from Boholanos portray a slightly different picture considering that one of the leading convenors for Chacha is Governor Erico Aumentado waving the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) banner.

Vocal radio reactions led by topnotch Boholano lawyer Victor de la Serna openly lambast the Administration for forcing the issue on amending the charter despite a thumbs down from the Supreme Court in a ruling that assessed the move for the people's initiative as a grand deception. Last week, the House of Representatives voted 161-25 to amend crucial Rule 105 and effectively treat the legal obstacles in changing the Congress into a constituent assembly.

Many see the move as a signal of the strong resolve of the majority of the people's representatives to drive the significant political reforms and prop up the sound economic base laid out by the Administration. In a statement heard over local television stations, Malacañang has acknowledged House in its bold political move of finally seeing the will of the people. The statement could be based on the good number of signatures that sectors have gathered in support of amending the land's supreme law via a people's initiative. Moreover, the Administration said it is praying for the Senate to see the same light and start their support for a broader consensus in efforts to steer Philippine politics into its much-needed reforms. ith the developments, Congress would then be convened to assess the chacha proposals before these could be presented to the people via a plebiscite.

l