PRESIDENTIAL son and Pampanga congressman Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo confirmed the meeting with former Speaker Jose de Venecia during which they discussed charter change, the Philippine Star reported Friday.
Star sought Arroyo’s reaction to a VERA Files report that he and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez sought in late February to enlist De Venecia of Pangasinan’s fourth district to help marshal votes for a resolution that would amend the Constitution through a constituent assembly.
Explaining the circumstances of the meeting, Arroyo said he and Romualdez chanced upon the former Speaker at the House session hall and after the usual greetings, were invited by De Venecia invited to his second-floor office for a chat.
“We did not seek him out to discuss Cha-cha or getting votes for Cha-cha with him,” Arroyo said, adding that their chat “was a conversation on everything, and Cha-cha was just a small part of it.”
He added, “We talked about good times, bad times, how each other’s family is doing, how my Ninang (godmother) Gina (de Venecia) is doing. That was the first time we had a chat since he was replaced.”
Arroyo said it was the former Speaker who brought up the Cha-cha issue.
But in what seemed to be a strange coincidence, Arroyo said Romualdez had with him a still-to-be-filed resolution asking Congress to convene a Constituent Assembly to propose amendments to the Constitution and presented this to De Venecia.
“He (De Venecia) read the (proposed) resolution, including the parameters for con-ass, one of which states categorically that there will be elections in 2010. He even suggested that the shift to the parliamentary system be included in the resolution,” Arroyo said. Con-ass is short for constituent assembly.
Arroyo said, “To put an end to this incessant talk that Cha-cha is meant to extend my mother’s term, let’s have Cha-cha after 2010.”
De Venecia told VERA Files Thursday that Arroyo and Romualdez sought his help because they still lack about 20 signatures.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, president of the administration Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), has said there is no need for the participation of the Senate if they can get 176 congressmen to sign the resolution.