President Benigno  “Noynoy” Aquino III on Friday announced plans to create a commission that would study the need for constitutional reforms and if there is a genuine public clamor for it.

The President, however, could not say how soon he could form the new body on Charter change, saying that the review of the country’s fiscal position is his “first priority.”

Aquino, on his third day in office, bared his position on Charter change (Cha-cha) after Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo filed a resolution seeking Charter reforms via a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) at the House of Representatives.

Reacting to Arroyo’s bid, senators belonging to different political parties thumbed down her resolution seeking to amend the 1987 Constitution.

“On Cha-cha, as I told you we'll form that commission to study the need for it and whether or not the people are requesting it," Aquino told reporters after the military change of command ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. “It must be proven the gains are better than the risks,” he added.

But Aquino, in an interview at Camp Aguinaldo, clarified his priorities in office.

“Sana bigyan tayo ng konting oras dahil ang dami na kailangan gawin sabay sabay. (We hope we will be given some time because there are many things to do all at once). And the first priority has to be the fiscal situation of the country. Ano na nga ba ang natitira sa kaban ng bayan para pantustos sa pangangailangan ng bayan (What is left in the nation’s coffers to fund the needs of the nation?)?” he asked reporters after the military change of command ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Aquino, who witnessed the assumption of new Armed Forces chief of staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo David, noted that he already initiated the creation of the truth commission that will look into the alleged anomalies during the Arroyo government.

In the ambush interview, Aquino said the government must thoroughly review if amendments to the 1987 Charter are needed “since it is no joke to change the Constitution.” If Charter change is pursued, he acknowledged there might be “negative consequences in the short-term.”

Any proposal to amend the Constitution would also have to go through the legislative mill,” he added.

The former President filed the Charter change resolution on the first day of her term as congresswoman of the second district of Pampanga.

Before the Senate adjourned sine die last June 4, 20 senators filed a resolution rejecting a resolution filed at the Lower House seeking a constitutional change through a Constitutional Assembly (Con Ass) mode.

The Arroyo resolution calls for the election of delegates to the Con-Con to amend some parts of the Constitution, including the economic provisions.

Senator Pilar Juliana “Pia” S. Cayetano of the Nacionalista Party (NP) said the filing last July 1 of the resolution “smacks of bad taste (because she) has chosen to file the resolution calling for Charter change even right on her very first day in office as a lawmaker.’’

“When she was still in Malacañang, Mrs. Arroyo had always been viewed as supporting Charter change in order to perpetuate herself in power. Her first resolution appears to validate her real motive for seeking a House seat,’’ she said.

“But I am hopeful that the majority of House (of Representatives) members will resist this proposal. I hope they have read the writing on the wall with the election of President Benigno Aquino III and that message is ‘enough is enough’,” she added.

Senator Loren Legarda, a defeated NP vice presidential candidate, said she would still have to read the Arroyo resolution “and evaluate options for the country that would best address problems of poverty, hunger, and joblessness.’’

Aquino’s partymate, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan doubted whether the former President could get her resolution approved by the Lower House.

“If as President she couldn’t get Charter change through despite having the entire machinery of the office at her disposal, I doubt very much if she can do as a congresswoman,’’ he said.

He pointed out that Mrs. Arroyo would not succeed to push it through as she is just one of the more than 200 House members compared to the time she was the Chief Executive when she had all the levers of power at her disposal but still failed.

Pangilinan is locked in an intra-party battle with a partymate, Sen. Franklin M. Drilon, the LP chairman, over the Liberal Party’s bet for Senate President as President Aquino had refused to meddle on the issue.

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who belongs to the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) but openly supported Aquino’s presidential bid in the May 10 elections, said the filing of the resolution seems to indicate that the former President “is flexing her muscles and making her presence felt a day after leaving office.’’

“And I thought she would just ‘quietly’ serve as a congresswoman. I think this is her reaction to the (inaugural) speech of P-Noy (Aquino) as if to say that she is no pushover and will fight it out.’’