House assails ‘confrontational’ Senate

The House of Representatives has adopted a resolution upholding its “integrity and honor” in the face of what its members said are continuing verbal assaults from senators over their row on amending the Constitution.

The resolution rejected the “unfounded” allegations leveled by senators against Speaker Martin Romualdez, whom they accused of being the architect of the alleged signaturebuying frenzy for a People’s Initiative.

The People’s Initiative sought to convene the House and the Senate into a Constituent Assembly to revamp the Constitution, with both chambers voting as one body, thus diluting the votes of the senators.

“The confrontational tactics used by the Senate are detrimental to the spirit of cooperative governance and the public’s confidence in parliamentary processes,” the resolution read.

A similar resolution was passed by the House last year to defend itself against the claim of former president Rodrigo Duterte that it was the “most corrupt” government agency.

Duterte derided the House after it lopped off the confidential funds of the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte and the Department of Education that she concurrently heads.

The House and the Senate have been at odds over the latter’s reluctance to allow a cha-cha through a PI. Some senators, like the President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, claimed the PI was facilitated through bribes given to those who signed.

Senator Marcos directly tagged Romualdez, her cousin, as the one behind the PI campaign, saying that P20 million per district was allocated to collect the signatures.

Romualdez has repeatedly denied having a hand in the PI effort.

House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. said, “We have no involvement in the signature drive to amend the Constitution and it was, in fact, initiated by a private organization.”