'Ignore Gadon's Cha-cha proposal'

CAGAYAN de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, the head of the House of Representatives' panel for constitutional amendments, said that the suggestions by Presidential Adviser for Poverty Alleviation Lorenzo Gadon on how to amend the 1987 Constitution should be ignored.

Gadon, in a letter to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, proposed that amendments to the Charter should include changing the length of terms of local officials and House members from three years to six years — the same length as those of the President, vice president and senators.

Rodriguez urged Romualdez to disregard Gadon's recommendation and to uphold the stand of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the matter.

«The Speaker has repeatedly echoed the stand of our President BBM (Marcos) that only economic Charter reforms should be considered and effected,» he said.

As a co-author of Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 7, which pushes for changes in the ownership of public utilities, higher education and advertising, Rodriguez said he will never support any political amendments in the charter.

In an earlier statement, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said Gadon's proposal showed that Marcos intended to change the political provisions of the Constitution.

Rodriguez added that Gadon's proposals and some surveys were confusing the public on the issue of Charter amendments.

Rodriguez has also called on the Senate to pass RBH 6, authored by Zubiri and Senators Lorna Regina «Loren» Legarda and Juan Edgardo Angara, once Congress reconvenes this month.