A Senate resolution calling for a shift to a federal form of government is not intended to extend the term of President Arroyo or any incumbent public official, a lawmaker maintained Wednesday.
"Let us be very clear. Resolution No. 10 has no intention whatsoever to extend her term, or my term, or anybody else's term. Its only purpose is the adoption of the federal system of government," Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.
Pimentel, the principal author of Senate Resolution No. 10, said some groups will try to manipulate the intent of the resolution for the purpose of term extension but he is confident that their efforts will not succeed.
He pointed out that, for one, the resolution strictly specifies what it intends to revise in the Constitution. Second, the senator said as far as his proposal is concerned deliberations and voting on the resolution by both chambers of Congress will be done separately.
"We will not allow ourselves, the 22 senators, to be swallowed up by 230 members of the House, many of whom probably allies of the President," he said.
A three-fourths vote of both chambers is needed to pass the resolution.
If they want, Pimentel said, congressmen can always pass a different resolution outlining other proposals on how to go about Charter change.
Malacañang has expressed support for the opposition senator’s proposal for a shift from a unitary to a federal form of government, citing the vulnerable peace situation in Mindanao.
Under the resolution, one of the 11 component federal states will be the Bangsa Moro Federal state.
The resolution seeks to convene Congress to a Constituent Assembly (ConAss) to amend the 1987 Constitution.
The Senate resolution dovetails with the plan of the Arroyo administration and Moro Islamic Liberation Front to give Muslims in the south wide economic and political powers starting with the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).
The MOA-AD was set to be inked on August 5 but the Supreme Court stopped the signing in Malaysia when it issued a restraining order on August 4 in response to petitions by local officials that they were not consulted on the agreement.
"We are putting our support to the Senate, which already mustered a substantial number of senators who affixed their signatures to the resolution," Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said.
Dureza said the resolution has already the support of 16 senators, including Senate President Manuel Villar, Edgardo Angara, Rodolfo Biazon, Pia Cayetano, Juan Ponce-Enrile, Francis Escudero, Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, Gregorio Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Francis Pangilinan, and Ramon Revilla Jr.
The support of the Arroyo government, however, triggered talks that the shift to a federal system of government through ConAss will allow Mrs. Arroyo to stay in power beyond June 2010.
Dureza dismissed the speculations, saying the Senate resolution does not allow for an extension of the term of the president.
Senate support
Pimentel said talks about Mrs. Arroyo staying in power beyond 2010 have probably affected his colleagues’ support for the resolution.
"… and it should be so, meaning to say, I am not about, and I’m sure the other co-authors of this resolution, are not about to allow a manipulation of the intent of the resolution, which is merely to adopt the federal form of government," he said.
He stressed that the senators agreed to support the resolution’s call for a federal system but other issues such as the mode on how to go about the Charter change and when the resolution will be implemented are still subject to deliberations.
He said he is pushing for the adoption of the resolution in order to begin the discussions about constitutional amendments now. He added that the shift is "really good for the country’s development and for peace not only in Mindanao but the entire country."