Former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada and opposition ally Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay warned Sunday of a push to transform Congress into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) in the last remaining session days in the House of Representatives before its adjournment.

Estrada, in a statement, cited a report that President Arroyo which purportedly mandated Lakas congressmen immediately after the Lakas-Kampi merger meeting to fast track passage for a Constituent Assembly this week. Estrada’s statement also alleged that Arroyo promised each congressman P20 million for voting in favor of the Con-Ass resolution.

"If this report is true, as confirmed by certain congressmen present at the presidential suite of the Manila Hotel last Thursday, the people will have to make their voice heard against this attempt by the incumbent president to stay in power forever. This is too much," said Estrada in the statement. "We do not want to wake up one day to realize that Arroyo can legally stay in power forever under a parliamentary form of government."

“Very much alive”

Binay, in a separate statement, also warned that the move to amend the Constitution through Con-Ass is very much alive. He also belied the sincerity of Mrs. Arroyo in her statement at the ceremonies marking the Lakas-Kampi merging that elections in 2010 would definitely push through.

“There are doubts whether Mrs. Arroyo was referring to a presidential election or election for members of parliament where she intends to be chosen as prime minister, thereby extending her rule indefinitely,” Binay who is United Oppoition president said in his statement.

Binay said the Arroyo’s allies in the lower House are proceeding with the plan to bring the Con-Ass issue to the Supreme Court. He alleged that “prospects of a favorable decision rest on Mrs. Arroyo’s appointment of nine new justices.”

“Congress is proceeding with a patently unconstitutional resolution and as a result is provoking political unrest. Contrary to Mrs. Arroyo’s claim that the merged party will pave the way for political unity, the merger will kick start political unrest through Cha Cha,” Binay said.

“No material time”

A member of the newly-merged Lakas-Kampi party on Saturday however has dismissed talks that any move for Constitutional amendments would still prosper.

Former Rep. Prospero Pichay, in the Kapihan sa Sulo forum Saturday, expressed doubts if those pushing for the Con-Ass could gather enough House members to push for the bill’s approval. He said 200 plus members is now needed after more partylist representatives were sworn in.

Pichay also said that even assuming that the bill would be passed in the lower House, there would be not enough time to push for its enactment. He said the bill would be questioned in the Supreme Court and this would take at least a month.

“By that time mag-file na ng certificate of candidacy… Definitely there is no material time,” said Pichay.

He also cited that the bill would not be able to muster enough support in the Senate especially with at least five senators, he said, aiming to run in the 2010 presidential race.

Villafuerte reso sans Villafuerte

The House committee on constitutional amendments on Tuesday voted 19 to 6 to send House Resolution 1109 calling for Charter change (Cha-cha) back to the plenary for debates.

Also known as the "Villafuerte resolution," the measure seeks to convene Congress into a constituent assembly which will propose charter amendments. Voting on the amendments will be done jointly by both houses instead of separately.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, president of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), initiated House Res. 1109 but he has since abandoned the measure, saying there is no longer any time for it.

House Res. 1109 is feared by some quarters as the administration's move to stay in power beyond 2010. The two houses of Congress, convened as a constituent assembly, will vote jointly, instead of separately, on charter amendments. With its superiority in numbers, the House will be able to approve Cha-cha even without a single senator participating. The Senate is against this Cha-cha mode.

The Villafuerte resolution was filed last April with 167 signatures, which was a little short of the 197 needed for three-fourths vote of Congress to approve charter amendments.

As opposed to separate voting by the Senate and the House of Representatives, the congressmen sought to complete the required three-fourths vote from their ranks alone. However, the configuration changed with the new Supreme Court decision adding 30 more party-list representatives in the House of Representatives. This increased the three-fourths vote from 197 to 220 signatures.