Admit PI authorship, Chiz asks House members
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may still have no formal position on the charter change being pushed by the House of Representatives, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said on Sunday.
“It seems to me that he is in favor of charter change, but he would only support amendments to the economic provisions. He did not give details on what economic provisions he wanted to amend,” the senator said in a radio interview.
“It has not been a week since he said that, so I think the executive branch may still have no formal position about it,” he added.
President Marcos on Thursday said that his administration is just after the Charter’s economic provisions that hinder the entry of foreign investments.
The Senate has started deliberations on Resolution of Both Houses 6, which proposes amendments to the Constitution’s economic provisions concerning public services, education, and the advertising industry.
Authored by Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, and Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, RBH 6 was filed after President Marcos instructed the upper chamber to take the lead on cha-cha.
Over the past few weeks, the Senate and the House of Representatives have embroiled themselves in a word war that started with the alleged lower chamber-led People’s Initiative said to be marred by signature-buying.
“Before they force us to reveal our stance on the cha-cha, they should first acknowledge their involvement in the PI,” Escudero said, referring to the House members.
“Because at first, they said they didn’t have anything [to do] with it. Then they become just facilitators and not orchestrators, and then all of a sudden they would want us to approve it or else they would continue it [PI],” he added.
Citing interparliamentary courtesy, Senator Escudero said the House of Representatives should respect the rules set by the Senate.
“Part of the genuine interparliamentary courtesy is not meddling with the agenda of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is the reason why it is separated,” he said.
Last week, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe urged senators to publicly state their stand regarding the efforts to amend some economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution.