MANILA - The wife of presidential aspirant Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro was the first to withdraw her signature from House Resolution (HR) 1109, the House bills and index service reported on Monday.

Tarlac Rep. Monica "Nikki" Prieto-Teodoro withdrew her signature on May 19, according to a certification signed by bills and index service director Victoriano Caoile.

Mr. Teodoro announced his presidential bid in March.

HR 1109 was filed in April. Opposition forces alleged it seeks to shift the form of government from presidential to parliamentary system so that President Arroyo can become prime minister in 2010.

Villafuerte backs out

The certification also showed that Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, who had initiated the resolution, withdrew his signature on June 2, the same day HR 1109 was approved in plenary through viva voce voting.

The withdrawals brought down to 169 the total signatories of HR 1109.

Some signatories, including House majority leader Iloilo Rep. Arthur Defensor and Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco, earlier said they only signed HR 1109 to accommodate the authors.

Because the voting on HR 1109 was viva voce, there is no record of names of congressmen and of their votes on HR 1109.

However, HR 110 has the list of congressmen who originally signed the Charter change measure when it was filed.