Pia: 'New Senate minority to block latest Cha-cha bid'

Press Release
By Office of Senator Pia Cayetano
November 21, 2008

PASAY CITY, Philippines  –  Senator Pia S. Cayetano today said the new minority bloc in the Senate will frustrate renewed efforts by Malacañang and their allies in Congress to revise the 1987 Constitution in another bid to extend the term of Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo beyond 2010.

"The public can count on the new minority in the Senate to stand up against renewed efforts to tinker with the Charter to serve the unpatriotic and selfish agenda of a few," said Cayetano.

"We may just be the minority in the Senate, but we share the sentiments of the overwhelming majority of our people who are opposed to any changes in the Charter before 2010," she added.

"The timing is very suspicious, coming on the heels of the Senate leadership reorganization. I don't want to speculate, but should a parallel move is initiated in the Senate from the majority, we in the minority will thwart it."

The lady senator issued the statement in reaction to reports that 163 members of the House of Representatives have already signed House Resolution 737, which seeks to lift equity restrictions in the 1987 Constitution. Proponents claim that the number of signatures is just 15 short of the required three-fourths vote of the Lower House which has 238 members.

Cayetano said five members of the new minority were among the signatories of Senate Resolution No. (SRN) 599 filed in the 13th Congress, which charged as unconstitutional and opposed the attempts of the Lower House to unilaterally propose amendments to the Constitution without the approval of three-fourths (3/4) of the Senate voting separately.

The five include Senators Manny Villar, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Francis Pangilinan, Joker Arroyo and Cayetano herself.

She added that the rest of the minority group who were not yet members of the Senate in the 13th Congress, including Senators Alan Cayetano, Benigno Aquino III and Antonio Trillanes IV, are also expected to take a strong stand against the Cha-cha charge.

She further noted that Sen. Manuel Lapid, who is reportedly aligning with the minority, also signed SRN 599.

"The latest Cha-cha script purports to be new, but we see the same old characters reprising their roles in their earlier attempts. House Resolution 737 supposedly concerns itself only with introducing changes to economic provisions in the Charter, but it's not difficult to see through the political scheme behind it."