Senate, House break Cha-Cha impasse

LEADERS of the Senate and the House of Representatives have agreed to momentarily set aside their differences and focus on identifying the proposed constitutional amendments that will be presented to the people.

In a statement issued Thursday, January 25, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said he and Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III reached an agreement Wednesday night with House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, Sr. to pursue the proposed revision of the 1987 Constitution.

“We have decided to focus on the revisions that have to be made rather than how these changes will be effected,” Pimentel said.

The House earlier passed a resolution pushing for a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution.

The Senate, however, is pushing for separate voting on the amendments.

Pimentel, in his statement, said the different legal views on the process of revising the Constitution “should not distract us from the crux of this exercise: to make revisions to the charter that will help improve our people’s lives.”

“I believe it is abundantly clear that a review of our Charter is long overdue, as repeatedly stressed by the resource persons at the Senate hearing tackling constitutional amendments,” Pimentel said.

“But we need to determine first what exact amendments or revisions will benefit the people. After this we can tackle how we will go about enacting these amendments in a manner that maximizes citizen involvement and is consistent with the law,” he added.

Pimentel also serves as the president of the ruling PDP-Laban, which has been at the forefront of the campaign advocating for a shift to federalism.

Alvarez, in a radio interview, said they have agreed to iron out first the details, such as the structure of government in the revised constitution.

Once this is settled, the House leader said it will not matter anymore if the two chambers will vote jointly or separately.

“Mag-usap muna kami doon sa detalye kagaya halimbawa yung structure ng government, tapos hanggang mabuo namin yung Saligang Batas,” he said.

“Pagkatapos, kapag naman natapos kami ay it will not make any difference anymore if we vote separately or jointly,” he added.

The two chambers had been contradicting each other’s interpretation of the 1987 Constitution.

Majority in the Senate said the legislative bodies should vote separately while their counterparts in the House insisted that they should vote jointly to amend the charter. Article XVII of the 1987 Constitution states that the Congress upon a vote of three-fourths can propose amendments to the constitution.

There is also debate on whether the structure of the legislative branch would be unicameral or bicameral.

Alvarez said the leaders will meet next week to discuss other contentious issues.

The senators, including Senator Panfilo Lacson have slammed the Speaker for this.

Lacson stressed that the two chambers should craft the proposal as the 1987 Constitution defines the Congress as the House of Representatives and the Senate. (SunStar Philippines)