‘Stop making up stories’
Exchanges between members of the House of Representatives and former President Rodrigo Duterte dialed up with the latest tirades of the lawmakers who accused him of “making up” stories to halt the progress of Charter change.
“Let’s stop (making up) stories and other nonsense. We’re happy now upon learning that the Senate is going to deliberate on it (Resolution of Both Houses 6). We’ve been waiting for that for a long time. So, stop making up stories (and) let’s stick to the facts of what we transmitted to the Senate,” said House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe yesterday in a press conference at the House of Representatives.
Recently, Duterte alleged that Speaker Martin Romualdez, whom he accused of orchestrating the People’s Initiative with First Lady Liza AranetaMarcos, would become the prime minister to be succeeded by his nephew, Senior Deputy Majority Leader Alexander “Sandro” Marcos, once the petition succeeds.
The former president likewise insinuated that the cha-cha would only perpetuate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in power.
In December, Senator Imee Marcos spouted the same rhetoric against Romualdez, which the Speaker brushed off. House leaders also disputed her claim, saying cha-cha was not being pushed because they aspired to become prime ministers.
Over the weekend, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio warned that members of the House could transform the current government into a parliamentary system and abolish the Senate should the PI advance.
One of the staunch proponents of cha-cha, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chairperson of the House committee on constitutional amendments, downplayed such claims, saying that transforming the government to a parliamentary system had no “constitutional” and “legal basis.”
“A People’s Initiative cannot change the form or system of government. We are unitary; we cannot change it to federal through a people’s initiative… we cannot also change a bicameral form of government into a unicameral form because the PI will only be for amendments,” Rodriguez said.
“Therefore, that is very clear: here is no legal or constitutional basis to say that the PI is for the perpetuation of power, the election of a prime minister, and that is very clear,” he said.
Similarly, Rizal Rep. Jack Duavit, who heads the Nationalist People’s Coalition bloc in the House, said a PI and even Congress sitting as a constituent assembly cannot change the nation’s system of government.
“That can only be done by way of a constitutional convention of representatives elected by the people in a separate election. We will not do that anymore. It’s very clear that it is not on the table,” Duavit said.