Bohol Governor Against Constitutional Assembly (Con-ass)

At a time when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo wants House allies to put on hold the controversial House Resolution 1109, Bohol Governor Erico Aumentado said the move is inviting a constitutional crisis.

Aumentado, delivering his 111th Independence day message called the controversial house resolution calling for Congress to convene into a ConAs is a violation of the fundamental law of the land.

Early last week, the House Resolution 1109 was passed which calls for Congress to initiate discussions on the charter change, despite an unresolved constitutional issue which the Supreme Court (SC) has to rule.

Questions as to whether the House of Representatives alone, by their sheer number can flatten out the opposition-dominated Senate and rule for the charter change.

The Senate has rejected calls for constitutional change at this time, but Speaker Prospero Nograles says lawmakers can propose amendments without the upper chamber, setting the environment for Supreme Court intervention.

Earlier, Representative Adam Relson Jala has hinted that the people can lodge a case to the SC for a definitive ruling on the interpretation of the provisions to change the constitution.

Aumentado, apparently meaning the sheer number of representatives can flatten out a senate opposition admitted he is a close Presidential ally, but declared his opposition to ConAs via only the House members.

"I can not support the ConAs with only the House of Representatives amending the constitution, without the Senate", he beamed before the crowd gathered for the customary flag raising activities on the 111th Independence Day.

In fact, he wants the SC to shoot the resolution 1109 down.

In his message delivered before a little more than a thousand local and national government employees gathered at the Plaza Rizal, the governor argued that a ConAs must be done in the true intent of the law and that is by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

He however admitted that he thinks the President is truly distancing herself from the measure seeking to convene Congress into a ConAs.

He then appealed for the people to forge a stronger unity in these times when the situation is compounded by a threatening global financial crisis.

Meanwhile, with the President's move to put on hold the resolve to convene congress into a ConAs, sources close to her said Mrs. Arroyo wanted to prioritize other measures that would provide more revenues to the country. (rachiu/PIA)