Senate Minority Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said they have been receiving reports that the People’s Initiative signature drive for Charter change would point to the House of Representatives.

“From the reports that we are getting, sa House ba may kikilos ba dyan na walang kumpas galing sa leader nila?” Pimentel said in an interview on Thursday over the ABS-CBN News channel when asked who is behind the ongoing people's initiative efforts to amend the Constitution.

“Therefore, the reports point actually to the members of the House of the Representatives, and our conclusion will point to the leader of the House of the Representatives—no less than the Speaker,” he added.

Pimentel said the people's initiative is the first step to acquiring additional legislative power—which the members of the lower house would like to get.

He labeled the P.I. as an “abuse” and “mistaken” use of public participation because the House of Representatives “hijacked” this mode to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, meanwhile, challenged Congressmen backing the push for P.I. to admit that they are behind the P.I. push.

Expressing a strong opposition to the proposal that both Congress should jointly vote during the policies legislation, Dela Rosa insisted that it would affect the independence of the bicameral system in the legislative branch.

“You’re in the wrong move because your first proposal for amendments is to remove the Senate. You want us to become powerless. That’s a very wrong move, that’s a very agitating move. That move would really incite bad reactions from the senators,” Dela Rosa told reporters earlier.

He then reiterated that thousands of residents in Davao City were tricked into signing the P.I. for Charter change in exchange for money, while some were forced to sign so they could get their social welfare benefits from the government.

“There’s a lot of them executed affidavit on that,” he said.

Asked if the lawmakers, whom he claimed to talked with, did admit that the leadership of the House of Representatives was behind the P.I. push, Dela Rosa said he was informed that the House speaker was leading the drive for the Charter change, including the act of “voting jointly” in the Congress.

“Nagsabi lang sa akin pero ayaw lang nila magsalita. Ang sabi ko nga the other day, that’s survival on their part,” he added.

Dela Rosa believes that some lawmakers are “trying to castrate” the Senate by pushing the “deceptive and fraudulent” people’s initiative.

“If there’s no separation between the two houses, no laws will be enacted,” he said.

Dela Rosa lamented the Senate is willing to review the Constitution along with the House of Representatives, provided that it will only be limited to economic provisions.

“We only have one request, junk your proposal to voting jointly, and then it will be done. Let’s go back to square one, back to the table. Just ditch the voting jointly term we can restart talking about,” he said.

Dela Rosa said the proposed joint voting overwhelms the Senate’s 24 votes with the House of Representatives over 300 votes.

Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada said insisting on a People’s Initiative as the mode to amend the 1987 Constitution will be an assault on checks and balances in Congress.

He said the proposal for “joint voting” is nothing short of an affront to the principles of bicameralism and the checks and balances “that underpin the country’s democratic framework.”

“The idea that a simple joint vote could render our bicameral system meaningless is not only an insult to this august institution but a betrayal of the trust the people have placed in us,” Estrada pointed out.

Estrada said “any attempt” to undermine the independence and integrity of the Senate should be met with resolute opposition.

“We are the defenders of the people's will, and we cannot allow maneuvers that undermine the very foundations of our democratic system,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senator Pia Cayetano cited legal luminaries such as Christian Monsod, former Senate President Franklin Drilon, Fr. Joaquin Bernas SJ, and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide— who said that the Constitution is clear, stating that the two chambers of Congress should vote separately to maintain checks and balances.

“We vote separately when we pass local bills such as changing of street names and clustering of barangays, so why would we vote jointly if we will change the Constitution which is considered as the bible of lawmakers?” Cayetano said.

“To give protection to life, liberty, and property, we passed laws separately in the Senate and the House of Representatives. So, when it comes to changing the Constitution, why do we need to vote jointly?,” she further stressed.

In his previous interview, People’s Initiative for Reform Modernization and Action National Lead Convenor, Noel Oñate, admitted that their purpose of pushing Charter change through a People’s Initiative is intended to “dilute” the Senate vote.

Pimentel underscored that it has been the “hidden agenda” in the ongoing people's initiative was to empower the House of Representatives to decide alone on the constitutional amendments to be introduced.

In voting jointly, he said the House can easily overtake the Upper Chamber, with its overwhelming number of members, and can force any changes in the Charter.