A Malacañang official assured yesterday that there is nothing self-serving in the government’s decision to amend the 1987 Constitution through a Constituent Assembly.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella stressed that it will be the next generation of leaders who will benefit from the process.
“Well, first and foremost, whatever results will be from the Con-Con (Constitutional Convention) or Con-Ass, it will be to the benefit of the next generation of leaders, right? It will not be affecting them (lawmakers) directly. So being self-serving does not really come into play here,” Abella said in a press briefing in Malacañang.
“What we’re moving towards is federalism, right? …We all agree, more or less, all agree that this is going to be for the greater good. So the intention, in a sense, in a very real sense, justifies the form that it will take,” he added.
Abella last Thursday confirmed that Charter Change and the proposed shift to federalism were among the matters discussed during the National Security Council last Wednesday.
House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez also said on Thursday that Con-Ass would replace Con-Con as a mode for Cha-Cha.
According to Alvarez, this option in amending the charter in order to pursue a federal shift in form of government will be cheaper and take lesser time.
Abella said he does not know how much it would cost the government to push Cha-Cha.
“According to DBM (Department of Budget and Management), it’s an enormous amount of money.”
“It’s an enormous amount of money and may affect the proposed increases and the other projects that are also all lined-up. So, basically that… It’s going to cost an enormous amount of money,” Abella said. (Elena L. Aben)
