Solon wary over 'Peoples Initiative for Cha-Cha' bills

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From the Office of Anakpawis Representative Crispin B. Beltran

Reference: Rep. Crispin Beltran (+63)927.871.1080

Lisa C. Ito, Public Information Officer (+63)927.796.7006

Tel. # (+632) 931-6615 Email: crispinbeltran@gmail.com

URL: http://www.geocities.com/ap_news
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*Solon wary over 'Peoples Initiative for Cha-Cha' bills*

*Recycled bogus tactic should be junked like Ramos' PIRMA in 1996¸ *

*Rep. Beltran says *



Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran today said that "three pending House Bills
providing implementing mechanisms for a 'peoples' initiative' to amend the
Constitution were dubious and should to be junked by the Lower House before
pro-Arroyo forces use them to prematurely force-feed Charter Change to the
public".



Beltran noted that the three identical House Bills (HB) 5023, 5025, and
5026—proposed by Reps. Eladio Jala, Roberto Cajes, and Edgar Chatto,
respectively—passed through a First Reading at the House of Representatives
last night.



The bills, all entitled the 'Peoples' Initiative to Amend the Constitution
Act', all push that "amendments to the Constitution may be proposed by the
people through initiative upon a petition of at least twelve percent (12%)
of the total number of registered voters"



Beltran scored the unconstitutionality of the said HBs, reiterating that
"the peoples' initiative or plebiscite may be used to implement amendments
to the Constitution, but not change the Charter altogether".



Beltran also scored the "bogus origins of these 'Peoples Initiative for
Charter Change' bills, which smack exactly of Ramosian and Marcosian tactics
to change the Constitution".



"These bills are trying to resuscitate the ghost of Marcos' dubious pre-1973
Charter Change plebiscite and Ramos' illegal People's Initiative for Reform,
Modernization, and Action (Pirma) in 1996, which was rejected by the Supreme
Court (SC)," Beltran said.



"The rabid proponents of Mrs. Arroyo's Charter Change never seem to learn.
Time and again, they try to ram these sneaky and unconstitutional tactics
through in the hopes that these will finally clinch whatever mandate they
are desperately trying to project," Rep. Beltran said.



"These bogus bills should be junked by the Lower House in the same way that
the Supreme Court junked Ramos' Pirma initiative way back in 996," Beltran
opined. ###