No new invite from Padilla to talk about Cha-cha, says Rodriguez

There is as yet no indication that the canceled meeting on Charter change (Cha-cha) between Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Senator Robin Padilla will push through during Congress' ongoing summer recess. This, after Rodriguez told this reporter that he has yet to get a new invite from Padilla. "I didn’t receive any invitation yet," the Cagayan de Oro lawmaker said. Rodriguez and Padilla are the chairmen of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments and the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Reivision of Codes, respectively. Rodriguez and a handful of fellow House members were supposed to attend a hearing of the Padilla panel on March 20. Rodriguez was supposed to sponsor Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No.6 and House Bill (HB) No.7352 before the panel, but the Senate eventually canceled the invite. In tandem, the measures seek the creation of a constitutional convention (con-con), the delegates of which would be tasked to propose amendments to the existing Charter. The sticking point regarding the Cha-cha efforts in the current 19th Congress has been thr different modes by which the House and Senate want to carry it out. The former is for con-con, while the latter--which has yet to approve any measure on constitutional revision--is reportedly leaning toward a constituent assembly (con-ass). A Cha-cha proponent in the House, Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte is insisting that the canceled meeting between Rodriguez and Padilla should still take place during the recess, which began last March 23. House and Senate won't convene again until May 8, leaving plenty of time for the Rodriguez and Robin panels to meet, if they choose to.