Greed and Guilt Behind Charter Change No Stopping Term Extension Provision Once Chacha Rolls

Gabriela Women's Party Representative Liza Maza today said moves toamend the Constitution being pursued in the Lower House reek of evilmotives and should immediately be blocked.

"It is greed and guilt that is behind the moves to amend theConstitution as well as desperate attempts to extend their terms beyond2010,” said Maza, also Assistant Minority Leader in the House ofRepresentatives.

The Gabriela solon explained that President Arroyo and her allies havenot been cleared of allegations of kickbacks and corruption in any ofthe impeachment hearings and committee investigations in both Congressand the Senate since 2001.

Maza stressed further that “President Arroyo can’t just simply escapethe charges against her. She should be held accountable for the stringsof cases which include betrayal of public trust, culpable violations ofthe Philippine Constitution, bribery and graft and corruption, all ofwhich glaringly constitute grounds for her impeachment.”

Maza and Gabriela colleague Luz Ilagan, as well as representatives fromthe progressive partylist bloc are poised to frustrate all moves toamend the Constitution.

“The move to change the charter will only serve the vested interests ofthe Arroyo administration. The urgent clamor for Charter change existsonly in Malacañang and its allies.The latest IBON nationwide surveyshowed that 77% of Filipino people reject such scheme to amend theConstitution. It is the last thing that the people need," said Maza.