TULAD ng inaasahan, tuluyan nang pinagtibay kahapon sa ikatlo at huling pagbasa sa plenaryo ng mababang kapulungan ng Kongreso ang resolusyon na nagpapatawag ng Constitutional convention (Concon) na siyang mag-aamyenda sa 1987 Constitution.

“With three hundred one (301) voting in affirmative, six in the negative and one abstention, Resolution of Both House (No. 6) is hereby adopted,” deklarasyon ni House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Bago ang sesyon, dakong alas-dos ng hapon ay nagpatawag ng caucus ang liderato ng Kamara sa pangunguna ni Romualdez kung saan inanunsyo ni Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe na lumagda sa nasabing resolusyon ang 300 sa 314 miyembro ng Kamara.

“We now have 300 House Members as co-authors of RBH No. 6, and more are signifying their intention to be co-authors. This means we now have not 2/3 or 3/4 votes, but more than 93 percent of total House membership in solid support of the Concon proposal” ani Dalipe.

Layon ng resolusyon na maghalal ng delegado ng Concon kasabay ng eleksyon sa barangay at Sangguniang Kabataan sa October 30, 2023 na siyang mag-aamyenda sa 1987 constitution.

“We are at the cusp of making history today. With this great number, we can now be likened to the 300 Spartans that made a last stand in the Battle of Thermopylae,” ani Rodriguez, chairman ng House committee on constitutional amendments.

Labis naman ang pagkadismaya ng mga kontra sa Charter change (Cha-cha) dahil sa kabila ng pahayag ni Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., na hindi nito prayoridad ang pag-amyenda sa tinaguriang “Cory Aquino Constitution” at sa gitna ng krisis na nararanasan ngayon sa bansa ay ipinilit pa rin ito ng liderato ng Kamara.

“Cha-cha is out of step now. The Congress and the President must exert all efforts and allocate the necessary resources to addressing the present economic woes of the country particularly on gripping poverty, escalating inflation, lack of food security, and the adverse effects of a possible recession,” ani Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman na isa sa 6 na bumoto kontra sa Cha-cha via Concon.

“We object to this insidious orchestration to rewrite the Constitution, which dangerously opens the route to full-throttle foreign plunder and expansion of political power of the Marcoses,” ayon naman kay Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas. (BERNARD TAGUINOD)