Senate ‘strongly’ objects to people’s initiative

Senators on Tuesday took a firm stand, through a manifesto, to strongly oppose the signature campaign for a people’s initiative purportedly carried out by the members of the House of Representatives to amend the 1987 Constitution.

The strongly worded manifesto, signed by the 24 members of the Senate, was read by Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri during the resumption of the session.

“We respect and recognize the people as our sovereign, with the right to call for Constitutional amendments. We must, however, guard against any sinister and underhanded attempt to change the Constitution by exploiting our democratic process under the guise of a people's initiative,” the manifesto read.

The manifesto

The senators warned that should the PI succeed in its goal, which they claimed proposes only one change—eliminate the Senate from the equation—they no longer could avert the overhaul of the entire Constitution.

“This so-called ‘people's’ initiative proposes only one change: in acting as a constituent assembly, the Senate and the House shall vote jointly,” they said.

“While it seems simple, the goal is apparent to make it easier to revise the Constitution by eliminating the Senate from the equation. It is an obvious prelude to further amendments, revisions, or even an overhaul of our entire Constitution,” they added.

They continued: “If this PI prospers, further changes to the Constitution can be done with or without the Senate's approval, or worse, even absent all the Senators.”

Should Congress vote jointly in a constituent assembly, senators stressed that the Senate and its 24 members “cannot cast any meaningful vote” against the 316 members of the House of Representatives.

“This singular and seemingly innocuous change in the Constitution will open the floodgates to a wave of amendments and revisions that will erode the nation as we know it,” they said.

“To allow joint voting will destroy the delicate balance on which our hard-won democracy rests,” they added.

No elections

Likewise, senators also warned that allowing the PI to succeed would “destabilize the principle of bicameralism and our system of checks and balances.”

“With this change, the Senate is left powerless to stop even the most radical proposals: We cannot protect our lands from foreign ownership; We cannot stop the removal of term limits or a no-election scenario in 2025, or worse, in 2028,” they stressed.

“It is ridiculous that the Senate, a co-equal chamber of the House, which is needed to pass even local bills, will have a dispensable and diluted role in Charter Change the most monumental act of policymaking concerning the highest law in the land,” they added.

Earlier this month, several members of the House of Representatives called out the alleged distribution of pay-offs in various districts across the country in exchange for voters’ signatures for charter change via people’s initiative.

The petition for people’s initiative allegedly includes a provision that would let the House of Representatives and the Senate vote jointly or separately to amend the Constitution.

Senators reiterated that it would not let any attempts to undermine the country’s democracy succeed.

"Throughout Philippine history, the Senate has always been one of the first targets by those who seek to undermine our country's democracy,” they said.

“Today, the Senate once again stands as a bastion of democracy, as it rejects this brazen attempt to violate the Constitution, the country, and our people,” they added.

They continued: “This Senate of the people will not allow itself to be silenced.”

To avert the “Constitutional crisis” between the House of Representatives and the Senate, Zubiri earlier fled a resolution seeking a review and proposed amendments to certain economic provisions of the Constitution.

The concurrent resolution, which was also signed by Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda and Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, involves the review and amendment of the economic provisions in the constitution, particularly Articles 12, 14, and 16.

Zubiri previously claimed that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked the Senate to instead take the lead in reviewing the economic provisions of the Constitution.

“The President agreed with us that the proposal was too divisive, and asked the Senate to instead take the lead in reviewing the economic provisions of the Constitution,” he said.

“In this way, we can preserve our bicameral nature of legislation,” he added.