Charter Change dead as long as Senate opposes it
CHARTER change won’t happen for as long as the Senate was opposed to it, a leader at the House of Representatives said on Monday.
“If the Senators are not willing [to do it]; then there is really no time for Charter Change. Not even five or 10 years from now. That is why I am calling on the Senators to be more open minded about this so we can discuss it,” Deputy Speaker Prospero Pichay of Surigao del Sur said in a news conference.
Pichay’ statement comes amid Speaker Gloria Arroyo’s pronouncement that there was not enough time to amend the 1987 Constitution ahead of the 2019 elections, considering that Congress has yet to come up with a draft federal constitution which would need ratification from the electorate via referendum.
“They (Senators) should stop thinking about themselves and think what is good for the country,” Pichay said.
Speaker Arroyo filed House Resolution 2056, which convenes the House and the Senate as a constituent assembly to amend the 1987 Constitution to install a federal government, with the House and the Senate voting separately.
The 1987 Constitution does not explicitly state whether the House and the Senate should vote jointly or separately in amending the Charter but merely provides that “any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by the Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members.”
Congress is composed of the House and the Senate.
The House will also adopt Arroyo’s House Resolution 2056 since Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte questioned it by arguing that the 292-strong House’s vote on Charter Change could not be held hostage by 24 Senators.
Among the senators opposed to Charter Change are Panfilo Lacson, Grace Poe, Francis Pangilinan, Antonio Trillanes 4th. LLANESCA PANTI
The post Charter Change dead as long as Senate opposes it appeared first on The Manila Times Online.