Constitutional crisis brewing between Senate, House — Zubiri

A constitutional crisis is slowly happening between the Senate and House of Representatives, Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri said on Friday.

Responding to the letter addressed to him by Speaker Martin Romualdez, Zubiri said there has been no discussion among senators about Romualdez's proposal to come up with an “alternative” Senate-led people’s initiative.

“I have received and read the letter of Speaker Martin Romualdez on the legislative efforts to effect changes to the 1987 Constitution. The Speaker will have our reply on Monday,” he said in a statement.

“As for his suggestion of an alternative people’s initiative emanating from the Senate, there have been no discussions on this. We believe that any legitimate people’s initiative must be genuinely led by the people,” he added.

“The Senate still maintains that this people’s initiative, in its current form and how the signatures are being collected, is flawed and unconstitutional,” Zubiri stressed.

Romualdez, in his letter to Zubiri on Thursday, reiterated the House majority’s commitment to the Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 which proposes certain amendments to the constitution.

“In uniting under our values and principles, the leaders of the House of Representatives recommit ourselves to the service of our people and the democratic ideals we are sworn to uphold. Together, we are steadfast in our resolve to cultivate a nation where democracy flourishes, economies thrive, and every Filipino is empowered to realize their fullest potential,” said Romualdez.

“We await the approval of the Senate of RBH No. 6 and we commit to adopt this measure pertaining to the amendments of the economic provisions of the Constitution,” the letter added.

Likewise, the Speaker said the House majority “commits to support an alternative people’s initiative led by the Senate with the proposition on amendments to the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution.”

Zubiri earlier filed RBH No. 6 to seek a review and propose amendments to certain economic provisions of the Constitution to “avert” the “Constitutional crisis” between the two chambers.

The concurrent resolution was filed as the upper chamber’s answer to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order for the Senate to take the lead in reviewing the economic provisions of the Constitution amid the reported push for the people’s initiative by House members.

Earlier today, Senator Imee Marcos claimed that her cousin, Romualdez, was the person behind the funding and the timeline for the people’s initiative, which the senators are strongly against.

“Definitely, it was his office that offered P20 million for each district. Definitely, the very attenuated timeline, which suggested that it should be finished by 9 July, also came from his office,” she told reporters in a press conference.

“Definitely, that derived from this office with the very clear numbers identifying the staff members and attorneys involved,” she added.

Romualdez had previously denied any hand in the signature campaign for a people’s initiative that allegedly involved vote-buying.