A combination of bungling on the part of Rep. Salapuddin and a switcheroo no one can quite explain attempted by Rep. Jaraula, derailed the Charter Change express in the wee hours of the morning.  But this news item gives us a good idea of the legislative strategy of the majority:…Cagayan de Oro Representative Constantino Jauraula tried to introduce House Resolution 1230 proposing specific amendments to the Constitution by way of a constituent assembly.HR1230 has been pending for plenary action since September 18.Camarines Sur Representative Luis Villafuerte, an administration ally, admitted that the majority bloc was also surprised by Jaraula’s move since what they had earlier agreed upon was to push for HR 1450.But opposition members questioned Jaraula’s resolution especially when he started reading the whereas provisions of an entirely new provision.This prompted the House to suspend the session.After a lull of almost an hour in the session, the House resumed with Nograles’s new proposal.Nograles moved to refer HR1450 to the House committee on rules, which he also heads, to calendar it for plenary discussion later in the day.But Minority Floor Leader Francis Escudero objected, saying that the referral was inappropriate because after the rules committee, it should be referred to the committee on constitutional amendments for deliberations.But Nograles again invoked the just amended rules in the House, in particular section 105, which allows them to tackle a Charter change resolution directly on the floor without going through the normal process of committee hearings.Speaker Jose de Venecia, who presided during the last few minutes of the session, ignored the minority’s call for adjournment, and instead suspended the session until 4 p.m.Pride of authorship seems to have inspired Jaraula to deviate from the game plan….  Submitting a resolution to a committee, any committee, could bog it down; and as Salapuddin’s bungling revealed, theirs is not for the congressmen to ask why, but rather, for them to charge ahead and bellow approval for anything proposed by the leadership.

By 9:30 pm the news was official: House amends House rules on Charter change.A source at the House of Representatives says that since the leadership has the numbers, they will attempt to proceed with convening the House as a Constituent Assembly, and pass a resolution proposing amendments to the Constitution tonight….  But as the source said, “it would be cheaper to do it all now.”(Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban retires tomorrow.)10:21 pm Rep. Escudero is making a motion to amend Sec….  Escudero reiterates his motion and calls for a roll call vote.(The Rules of the House are online: see the rules on changing the Constitution that were just amended tonight; see also Rule 150)10:23 Session suspended.

Around noontime news rooms got wind of the verdict: American serviceman Daniel Smith would be convicted while the rest of the accused would be acquitted.  The news broke a short time ago.Tonight, the House of Representatives is scheduled to amend its rules and do a Smith to the Constitution….  There’s some sniffing around the President’s proclamation of a state of national calamity, based on the suspicion that it permits the useful juggling of funds to inspire a positive outcome.

An article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer recalls Victoria Quirino Delgado, although Lito Zulueta’s piece gets some things wrong: Vicky Quirino’s was not the first debut in the presidential palace (the first was in 1937) nor the first wedding, although it was the first wedding of a president’s daughter held at the Palace.  Vicky Quirino’s wedding in the Ceremonial Room (now Rizal Hall) of the Palace.The article does well, though, in focusing on what a first lady was traditionally expected to be: the official hostess of the chief executive….  It was converted to its present purpose for Vicky Quirino.This is a photograph from the Time Magazine photo archive of President Quirino with his daughter, Vicky Quirino.

The schedule, insofar as I’ve been able to cobble it together, seems along the these lines:Dec….  House of Representatives amends its rules allowing swift passage of a resolution.Dec….  Commission on Elections receives House Resolution and schedules plebiscite in 60 days.Feb.