ANGELES CITY – A Kapampangan ally of Pres. Arroyo in the House of Represen-tatives said that the push for Charter change through a Constitutional Convention (Con-con) is totally devoid of any plans for the President to land as House Speaker in the 15th Congress.
“The move to change the Constitution is eyed by most pro-administration House members as a measure towards a parliamentary system of government with a prime minister not as powerful as the President,” Pampanga’s 1st district Rep. Carmelo Lazatin said in an interview yesterday.
Lazatin, who is seeking reelection, said that the possibility of Mrs. Arroyo becoming House Speaker in the 15th Congress is unlikely especially if the next president to be elected this May would come from the opposition. The President is running for Congress and is believed likely to win in the second district of this province.
“We in the House all know that the speakership is dictated by the President. Look at what happened to (former Speaker Jose) De Venecia. When he fell out of graces from Malacanang, he was replaced as Speaker despite his being there for so many years,” he noted.
Lazatin said that allies of the President in the House have no agenda for the President in pushing Charter change. “One of the things we want done by shifting to parliamentary system of government is to do away with too much power in the hands of the executive, such as control over pork barrel,” he added.
He said that should the proposal for Charter change through Constitutional Convention succeed , a parliamentary system of government cannot be put in place until at least the year 2013. “There will be much to be done, so it will take time,” he said.
“This time, I think there are good chances that the Senate would support the move, since Charter change would be through a Constitutional Convention and not a merely assembly of Congress,” he said.
Lazatin said that the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments prefer a fixed budget and time frame for framers of a new Constitution should the proposal for a Constitutional Convention push through.
Speaker Prospero Nograles said the Con-con bill that had been set for second reading before the House went into its long Christmas break.
The House bill proposes to hold elections for some 303 Con-con delegates, simultaneous with the barangay elections set for October 2010. The House pushed for a Con-con mode of constitutional change after the majority bloc failed to railroad the passage of a bill seeking to convene the two chambers of Congress into a constituent assembly to vote jointly to amend the Constitution.
“The move to change the Constitution is eyed by most pro-administration House members as a measure towards a parliamentary system of government with a prime minister not as powerful as the President,” Pampanga’s 1st district Rep. Carmelo Lazatin said in an interview yesterday.
Lazatin, who is seeking reelection, said that the possibility of Mrs. Arroyo becoming House Speaker in the 15th Congress is unlikely especially if the next president to be elected this May would come from the opposition. The President is running for Congress and is believed likely to win in the second district of this province.
“We in the House all know that the speakership is dictated by the President. Look at what happened to (former Speaker Jose) De Venecia. When he fell out of graces from Malacanang, he was replaced as Speaker despite his being there for so many years,” he noted.
Lazatin said that allies of the President in the House have no agenda for the President in pushing Charter change. “One of the things we want done by shifting to parliamentary system of government is to do away with too much power in the hands of the executive, such as control over pork barrel,” he added.
He said that should the proposal for Charter change through Constitutional Convention succeed , a parliamentary system of government cannot be put in place until at least the year 2013. “There will be much to be done, so it will take time,” he said.
“This time, I think there are good chances that the Senate would support the move, since Charter change would be through a Constitutional Convention and not a merely assembly of Congress,” he said.
Lazatin said that the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments prefer a fixed budget and time frame for framers of a new Constitution should the proposal for a Constitutional Convention push through.
Speaker Prospero Nograles said the Con-con bill that had been set for second reading before the House went into its long Christmas break.
The House bill proposes to hold elections for some 303 Con-con delegates, simultaneous with the barangay elections set for October 2010. The House pushed for a Con-con mode of constitutional change after the majority bloc failed to railroad the passage of a bill seeking to convene the two chambers of Congress into a constituent assembly to vote jointly to amend the Constitution.
