House reps relieved ex-President Duterte OK with economic Cha-cha
MANI L A — H o u s e lawmakers have clarified once again that proposals to amend the Constitution would solely address i ts economic aspects.
The clarification comes after f ormer President Rodrigo Duterte said he was okay with Charter change (Cha-cha) provided it stayed on track.
Taguig 2nd District Rep. Amparo Maria Zamora said maybe t he former chief executive had come t o understand that the 19th Congress was pushing for an economic Cha-cha only.
“That’s exact l y what we’ve been saying from the beginning — that we are pushing for Charter change j us t t o push f or t hese economic amendments,” Zamora told reporters.
“So maybe our wel l - respected former President Rodrigo Duterte has seen more clearly that this i s what really what many a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s a r e pushing for and also the 19th Congress,” she added, speaking partly in Filipino.
Z a m o r a m a d e t h e s t a t ements i n a press conference where he was asked about Dute r t e ’ s remarks in a Cebu City prayer rally on Sunday.
For his part, Deputy Speaker David Suarez said that even with the House version of Resolution of Both Houses ( RBH) No. 6, l awmakers specified the planned changes.
“What Congresswoman [Zamora] said is correct. Ever since we passed RBH No. 6 last year, it was just purely on economic provisions,” Suarez recalled.
“We’ve been consistent with the position, the stand, from day one and up until
now.”
The r e s o l u t i on was adopted in March 2023.
During the prayer rally,
Duterte said he had no problem with amending the Constitution as long as it would not be about extending
t he i ncumbent elective officials’ terms. ( Gabriel Pabico Lalu © Philippine Daily Inquirer)