HOUSE Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. said here recently that the scheduled 2007 elections will proceed even if the amendments to the 1987 Constitution push through.

Talking to newsmen here over the weekend, de Venecia said there is no plan to postpone the elections in 2007 as there is nothing in the draft of the proposed amendments now being presented to the people that calls for no election (no-el) next year.

“The election goes. There is no such plan to postpone it,” he stressed.

“It is immoral for us to move for the extension of our offices because that is a major conflict of interests,” he clarified.

He said if it is immoral for the officials to extend their terms of office, it is also immoral for the interim parliament to convene based on the extended terms of its members.

While saying that the no-election proposal is completely out of the question, de Venecia, at the same time, announced that the People’s Initiative that seeks to amend the present constitution has already started last week.

Congress is at the same time, concentrating on a resolution that also seeks certain amendments to the constitution and needs the signature of 195 members.

De Venecia told newsmen that in this People’s Initiative, the period for signature gathering is from February and March while the verification of the signature by the Commission on Elections will be in April.

On the other hand, de Venecia said that April and May is the period for the campaign for the ratification of the amendments while the plebiscite is scheduled sometime in June.

De Venecia is optimistic that the first parliamentary election for the first unicameral parliament can be done in July.