Fariñas on House adoption of Con-Ass resolution: Nothing has been railroaded

FILE: House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas (PNA photo)

House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas slammed House opposition members who criticized the adoption of a House resolution seeking to convene Congress into a constituent assembly (con-ass) to propose amendments in the Constitution, stressing that it underwent proper process.

Responding to criticisms that the resolution was inordinately adopted by the chamber, Fariñas said that House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) No. 9 was duly done in accordance with House rules, shrugging off a “false, unfounded and unfair” claim of Kabataan party-list, Bayan Muna party-list and Gabriela Women’s party that it was railroaded by the supermajority.

“It is a product of democratic and exhaustive debates not just in the plenary hall of the House of Representatives, in the several committee meetings conducted by the committee on constitutional amendments, but also in nationwide public consultations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” Fariñas said in a statement sent to media two days after the resolution was passed on Tuesday.

Fariñas explained that since the filing of various measures on charter amendment spanned from June 30 to August 16, 2016, the call to hold a con-ass has gone through many processes.

The committee conducted public hearings and consultations with representatives from the business and finance sectors, academic and research institutions, local government organizations, legal constitutionalists, basic sectors and related government agencies.

These meetings were followed by further public consultations in the cities of Dagupan, Davao, Bacolod, and Tacloban from February to April 2017.

According to Fariñas, the House panel’s committee report was filed on February 15, 2017, included in the House calendar business on March 1, 2017, and only sponsored on December 13, 2017.

“Clearly, this afforded members time to consider the pros and cons of the measure,” the House Majority Leader added.

The resolution was sponsored by House panel chairperson Roger Mercado, vice chairperson Vicent “Ching” Veloso and deputy speaker Gwen Garcia, with interpellations by ACT Teachers party-list Representative Antonio Tinio, Buhay party-list Representative Jose Atienza, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate, and Anakpawis party-list Representative Ariel “Ka Ayik” Casilao.

On January 16, 2018, the debate on HCR No. 9 resumed, with Mercado sponsoring and Casilao interpellating.

While the House members were debating on the resolution, Fariñas said that independent lawmaker Edgar Erice “sought to prevent the discussion by questioning the quorum.”

It prompted a second roll call during the same session with 186 House members listed as present.

“HCR No. 9 has been exhaustively discussed in the plenary. The House members decided it was time to vote on it after hearing the discussions and debates on the measure,” Fariñas said.

The House leader pointed out that the decision of the members to close the debate that led to the adoption of HCR No. 9 finds basis in the rules of the HOR. Section 54 which provides that “a motion to close the debate on a measure shall be in order after three (3) speeches in favor and two (2) against, or after only one (1) speech in favor and none against.”

Fariñas also noted that the charter-change (cha-cha) issue had been introduced and tackled in previous Congresses.

“The clamor for charter change had long been there. It is time we seriously consider it for the benefit of our country and people,” he said.

Fariñas further said that what was voted upon and adopted by the HOR was only the manner of proposing amendments to the Constitution, which was through con-ass.

“Nothing at all has been railroaded!” he added.

The current administration has been pushing for a switch to a federal form of government as a method to address country’s woes.

If Congress decides to convene in a con-ass this month, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier said that the proposed federal charter could be submitted for a referendum simultaneously with the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in May 2018.