THE House of Representatives will not tackle the Palace-backed Charter Change until it is able to pass the equally important and priority bills such as fhe death penalty, lowering the age of criminal liability, among others, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said.
Alvarez said at the moment, the Lower House was occupied with many pending measures of national importance, and the proposed Charter Change to effect federalism might be discussed during the second regular session of the 17th Congress in July.
“We have several pending bills at the moment. We still have to pass [them] before we can actually focus on Charter Change,” Alvarez said.
The present 17th Congress’ First Regular Session will adjourn sine die or end on June 2.
The Second Regular Session will begin on July 24 in time for the yearly State of the Nation Address of the President.
Alvarez hoped Congress would be able to.begin deliberations on proposed revision of the constitution for a shift to a parliamentary system of government six months from now.
Alvarez said President Rodrigo Duterte had signed an Executive Order creating a 25-member body tasked to study proposed changes to the charter.
It was Alvarez who submitted the proposed EO to the Palace, calling for the creation of a Constitutional Commission, composed of experts in their respective fields, tasked to prepare a proposed draft of a new constitution that would be submitted to Congress for debate and deliberation.
“What is missing is the appointment of members of the Constitutional Commission. As soon as the appoinment of members is done, hopefuly by this month, the Commission can already begin its tasks” said Alvarez.
He said Congress could already convene as a Constituent Assembly to begin the deliberations on the proposed draft submitted by the Constitutional Commission,” he added.
Alvarez stressed while Congress would use as starting point of its deliberation the draft submitted by the Con-Com, they were not bound to merely accept or reject the proposed Charter changes.
“We have to deliberate; and debate on the draft,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez added he expected intense and prolonged debates in the House of Representatives once deliberation on the proposed Charter Change had begun.
The Speaker also said he could not give this early a timetable how long it would take for Congress to complete its deliberation to rewrite the Constitution as the proposal would have to be submitted to the people through a referendum.
Nevertheless, Alvarez said he was confident Congress would be up to the task.
Since the proposed Charter Change was intended to replace the current unitary form of government to a parliamentary system, Alvarez expects the draft of the new Charter to mark a major departure from the provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
The shift to a federal form of government is one of the key campaign promises of Duterte during the 2016 presidential elections.