Senators question proposed revival of House-led Cha-cha next year

Senators on Wednesday questioned the House of Representatives' renewed push for amendments to the 1987 Constitution next year.

Citing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s previous pronouncements on the issue, Senator Imee Marcos reiterated that the planned revival to discuss charter change is not a priority of her brother's administration.

"Why are they pushing for it? PBBM has already said that this is not the time for that because the focus is on people's livelihood, and lowering the prices of commodities," she said.

"It was also rejected twice by the Senate. Why are they pushing for it? Why are they being overly pushy?" she added.

On Tuesday, Speaker Martin Romualdez announced that the House of Representatives would push for charter change next year which focus will be on removing the "restrictive" economic provisions in the charter.

"I believe 2024 will allow us again to revisit the whole issue of the constitution because I think it's timely that we revisit and I say we'd like to focus very much on the economic provisions," Romualdez said.

He noted that revisiting the 1987 Constitution "would be our legacy in the 19th Congress."

In March, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading of House Bill 7352, which calls for a constitutional convention or con-con to amend the Constitution.

The House-led con-con did not progress as the Senate declined to entertain such a move, stressing that the measure had no blessings from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Senator Robinhood "Robin" Padilla-led charter change via constituent assembly also failed to get support in the Senate.

For Senator Marcos, the House-led cha-cha may have something to do with the next presidential elections.

"Perhaps, someone wants to be a prime minister since they could not win as the president," she said when asked why she thinks the lower house is renewing the push for charter change.

Economic provisions

Likewise, Senator Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito feared that the House-led charter change may suffer the same fate in the Senate.

"There are parameters of what will be its form such as con-con or con-ass, as well as whether it will be a political or economic provision," Ejercito said in a chance interview.

"If it's economic, it might have a chance. It might be worth it. because I don't think people will like that," he added, referring to the political amendments to the Constitution.

For Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, their counterparts in the House of Representatives will have to answer these questions first before they will take up the matter in their chamber.

"First, is this really the right time to discuss it? Numbers will show that our economy is on its way to recovery. We have recently passed the Public-Private Partnership Act which we authored in the Senate," Villanueva said.

"We also passed laws such as the Retail Trade Liberalization Law, the Foreign Investments Act, and the Public Service Act. We need to see the full impact of these laws first before we talk about charter change," he added.

He continued: "Second, will it undergo the right process? We need to know these details before we engage in any debate on chacha."

Likewise, Senator Francis Escudero said that the lower house must clarify what specific procedure they will follow in amending the charter.

Escudero also said that the specific amendments to the 1987 Constitution must be clarified too.

"No position for or against can be made without these specifics (and not mere ambiguous and general intent or statements) as a starting point for any discussion to amend the constitution… at least insofar as I am concerned," he said.

"There is no perfect or imperfect time to review the Constitution but, as I said, they should be clear and unequivocal in regard to my two queries," he added.

Federalism

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said he is "open" to the move to amend the Constitution if it will be an adoption of federalism.

"If it is adoption of federalism, I am open to the idea but if the plan is to let foreigners procure land and mineral resources, it must be rejected," Pimentel said.

"It is always timely to revisit the 1987 constitution for as long as the motives are honest and honorable. Like advocating for structural change in the government system," he added.