At the weekly "Kapihan sa Sulo" media forum at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City, Angara said he is drafting a joint resolution calling for a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives, voting separately, to initiate such amendment.

Angara said he finds the shortening of the terms of the two highest officials of the country and the conduct of a snap election as the most viable solutions to the current political crisis.

He, however, made clear that a snap election can only happen if his proposed constitutional amendment is approved in a plebiscite.

Angara said his proposal also tends to address the issue of legitimacy that has been hounding the present administration since the last election.

"This single amendment in the Constitution will resolve the most controversial issue facing politics, which is legitimacy," Angara said.

The longest-serving Philippine senator noted that the questions on the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration will continue to produce political instability and unrest in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Angara said his proposal is the only remaining solution provided for in the Charter to get rid of the Arroyo administration as the options of resignation and impeachment have already been tried and yet the President remains in office.

"Why don’t we try a new tact? Since the President already said she won’t resign and with impeachment, if you follow the partyline it doesn’t seem (to prosper)," Angara said.

He added that the President’s critics will remain focused on extra-constitutional means of sweeping her out of power, if his proposal is ignored.

"If we stop discussing the merits of this proposition, the people will focus on extra-constitutional options," he said.

The opposition lawmaker said he will file the joint resolution as soon as he acquires "critical mass" among members of Congress. Critical mass, he said, means five senators and 20 congressmen.

"We can get the ball rolling if we get the critical mass," he said.

As this developed, Angara yesterday urged the Arroyo government to speed up its negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in order to achieve not only the long wanted peace in Mindanao but also economic development for the strife-torn region.

Angara said the governments of Japan, Korea, United States, and even the World Bank have already pledged millions of dollars in financial support for the development of Mindanao.

"Financial support (from foreign governments) will continue to flow out once we concluded a peace pact," Angara said at the "Kapihan sa Sulo."

The pledges, he said, would be released to government if it signs the final peace agreement with the MILF.

Last month, retired Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, a member of the government negotiating panel, said in the same forum that he expects that an agreement on the ancestral domain issue, which will form part of the final peace accord with MILF, will be reached before the end of March.

Garcia was also optimistic that the final peace agreement will be signed either September or October this year.

Angara said although it is a sensitive issue, he believes the ancestral domain is solvable.

The MILF is asking government for the establishment of a "Bangsamoro homeland," which would primarily cover the provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).