Make cha-cha stand, Senate dares House

Senators called on their counterparts in the House of Representatives to admit their involvement in the controversial signature campaign for a People’s Initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution. 

Reacting to House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe’s demand that the Senate disclose its position on the issue of Charter change, Senator Francis Escudero pressed the lower chamber to admit stirring up a “fake” PI. 

Escudero described the HoR’s demand as a classic case of the “pot calling the kettle black.”

“Why don’t they come out in the open, be accountable, and admit to the public that they were truly the ones behind this ‘pekeng’ (fake) People’s Initiative instead of doing a striptease,” Escudero said on Thursday.

He then questioned the changing position of the House members on the PI. 

“At first, they said ‘we have nothing to do with that,’ next they said they were the ‘facilitators but not the orchestrators.’ Now they have the nerve to say ‘we will stop the PI when they pass the Resolution of Both Houses No. 6,’” Escudero said in Filipino. 

He said it would “bode well” for House lawmakers to abide by Speaker Martin Romualdez’s words, “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

Escudero said the senators will publicly stand on the proposed Charter change “at the proper time.”

Opinions as facts 

He likewise challenged the proponents of Charter change “to present solid data” to back their argument as to why there is a need to revise the Constitution, “instead of misrepresenting opinions as facts.”

The Senate and the House are locked in a heated argument over the signature campaign for a People’s Initiative to amend the Constitution — which the senators believe was being orchestrated by their counterparts in the lower chamber.

The Senate’s Sub-Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes is tackling Resolution of Both Houses No. 6, or RBH6, that seeks to review the economic provisions of the  1987 Constitution.

The upper chamber’s review of the proposals to amend specific provisions of the Constitution was directed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in a bid to improve the economy and attract more investors to the country. 

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has said that the President specifically instructed the upper chamber to pass the final version of RBH6, which the House of Representatives would adopt. 

‘What’s it gonna be?’

In a media interview on Thursday, Senator Sonny Angara bared his confusion over the lower chamber’s stance on Charter change and urged the members of Congress to clarify their role in the PI campaign. 

“That’s what’s confusing to me because, at first, they said they had nothing to do with the PI, but now they are saying they will go back to the PI. So what is it really,” he said in the vernacular.

Angara echoed his colleagues’ call to their counterparts in the House. 

“Why don’t you tell the people what your role in the PI is? Because it appears that you are the ones behind the  PI. It may be unintentional, but their words are betraying them. They are even threatening us,” he said. 

Angara said the House appeared to be dodging questions on why they are hastening the push for Charter change through a PI.

“It’s better and more transparent now that we are debating. The people can watch the arguments for and against constitutional change,” he added.

Zubiri earlier said the Senate will not rush the discussions on Charter change as it needs thorough scrutiny and review. 

“We will not be falling into the trap of a deadline because to discuss such an important matter takes time,” he said.