Philippine Constituent Assembly

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The Philippine Constituent Assembly ("Con-Ass") is the unilateral move by the House of Representatives to convene itself as a constituent assembly, without the concurrence of the Senate ^[1] to amend the constitution, dubbed as "charter change" or "cha-cha."

Contents 1 Ways of amending the constitution 2 History 2.1 House's move for charter change 3 References

[edit] Ways of amending the constitution

The constitution can be amended and/or revised into three ways:

1. The Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members,
2. A constitutional convention, upon a vote of two-third of all its members,
   • A majority vote of all members would pass the decision to the electorate in a referendum,
3. A people's initiative, in this case, only "amendments" are allowed.
   • A people's initiative is a petition of at least 12% of the electorate, with at least 3% of every legislative district represented.^[2]

[edit] History

[edit] House's move for charter change

The House was able to circumvent the proceedings by issuing House resolution 1450, which states that the House would convene itself as a constituent assembly, despite objections by House Minority Leader Francis Escudero, saying that a three-fourths majority must be obtained. Assistant Majority Leader Edcel Lagman countered, saying that only a simple majority is needed. Majority Leader Nograles sponsored the resolution, and it passed with 173 congressmen signing.

[edit] References

1. ^ House approves resolution convening constituent assembly Maila Ager INQ7.net. Accessed December 7, 2006.
2. ^ ARTICLE XVII Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. Accessed December 6, 2006.