A RANKING leader of the Liberal Party yesterday hinted at the death of the efforts to amend several economic provisions of the Constitution, saying the party chairman who is President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III will be their very influential “guiding light” in coming up with a party stand.

Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya Jr., secretary general of the LP, said the country’s dominant party is yet to schedule a meeting to discuss the new efforts in Congress to push Charter change which President Aquino rejected.

Abaya stressed that the decision of Aquino as LP chairman will influence the position to be taken by the party.

“The LP has yet to meet as a party and discuss the issue on constitutional amendments. In all likelihood, the chairman of the party, the President of the Republic, will steer the discussions for the eventual decision on a party stand,” Abaya told this reporter in an interview.

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello agreed with Abaya as he assured that the House of Representatives and the influential Roman Catholic Church will not clash over Cha-cha unlike with the highly divisive Reproductive Health (RH) measure because amending some economic provisions of the Constitution is not “on the radar of the President.”

“I think that without Malacañang's support, Cha-cha won't be on the agenda of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the next two years. I am sure of this. In fact, even with P-Noy's support, many members of Congress are opposed to Cha-cha because it is a distraction. So I do not anticipate a clash on this issue like the one on the RH bill,” Bello said in a separate interview.

Quezon City Rep. Winston “Winnie” Castelo, a member of LP, said “the initiative might derail the economic recovery direction of the Palace and debates would be long and heated that would result in backtracking efforts to pump prime the economy.”

However, Castelo admitted that “the motives of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile are laudable.”

Reacting to the Church’s stand against Cha-cha, Citizens Battle Against Corruption Rep. Sherwin Tugna said it “cannot be compared to RH because the latter involves a question of morality and belief, issues that the Church are passionate about. I don't see any clash.”

But Tugna said “what is important is that these moves to change the Constitution are meant to improve the economic situation and not only to serve vested interest.”