SENATE President Aquilino Pimentel III allayed fears that the Senate would be abolished with the proposed shift to a federal form of government.
“Don’t worry… Actually federalism needs the Senate, because federalism needs an upper house to keep the country together,” he said.
But Senate Minority Franklin Drilon said the abolition of the Senate is “certainly within the realm of possibility.” He said once a constitutional assembly is convened, anything and everything could be discussed.
He noted that the power will be in the hands of the House of Representatives and the Senate could be left with a ceremonial function once the country adopts a unicameral Congress.
The chairman of the leftist group Bayan Muna, meanwhile, said the Charter change plans of the ruling party would abolish the Office of the Vice President but would allow the President to be reelected in 2002.
“Under the PDP-Laban Constitution, the office of the Vice President will be abolished by 2019 if they succeed in having the new Constitution ratified during the 2019 elections,” Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares said in a statement. Colmenares said that under the PDP-Laban
Constitution, it is the Senate President, then the Speaker, who will succeed President Rodrigo Duterte in case of death or removal from office.
“The vice president is not mentioned at all in the line of succession because, upon ratification of the new Constitution, her office no longer exists,” he said.
At the same time, Colmenares said, the proposed changes to the Constitution would allow Duterte to run for President again when his six-year term ends in 2022.
Also on Sunday, Senator Panfilo Lacson “apologized” to Deputy Speaker Fredenil Castro for saying that lawmakers who sought to extend their terms through Charter change were “thick faced.”
“I apologize to Representative Castro if he was hurt when I said those who could not help themselves in using Charter change to extend their own terms and avoid elections were thick in the face,” Lacson said in Filipino on his Twitter account.
“What I should have said was their faces are doubly thick.”
In an interview with MindaNews last week, Duterte said he was still vetting the 25 members of a constitutional commission that would study, conduct consultations and review the provisions of the 1987 Constitution and give him their recommendations.
The commission was created by executive order in December 2016, but so far, the President has not named its members.
The President said, however, that former Supreme Court Chief Justice was his “number one.” He also mentioned lawyer Randolph Parcasio, the spokesman of the Moro National Liberation Front faction led by founder Nur Misuari.
Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said he saw no need for Charter change, but only amendments to the Constitution if the country shifts to a federal system of government.
In an interview on radio dzBB, Sotto suggested adding the phrase “as may be provided by law” to allow Congress to discuss the amendments as ordinary legislation.
Sotto also said a constituent assembly is the easiest way to amend the Constitution compared to constitutional convention.
“If full-blown, the constitutional convention may be for two years. Aside from being long, it’s costly. You will double the current budget of Congress and Senate to achieve a constitutional convention,” he said.
He also said there will be an election and delegates will be elected since all districts will be represented.
Sotto said a constituent assembly could finish Charter proposals by May this year.
“If they’ll talk about it, federalism will be included, the parliamentary form will also be included,” he added.
The Duterte administration has been pushing for a shift to a federal form of government as a means to address issues particularly in strife-torn Mindanao.
In an earlier interview, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said that in order to do that, the Congress may decide to convene in a constituent assembly this month.
Buhay Party-List Rep. Lito Atienza, on the other hand, called for the election of delegates to a constitutional convention alongside the 2019 mid-term polls.
“Congress should waste no time in calling for a constitutional convention now, and forget about simply mustering itself into a constituent assembly to propose changes to the Charter,” Atienza said.
Atienza pointed out that the President himself strongly advocated a constitutional convention while he was still a runner in 2016 and immediately after he was elected into office.
“In fact, congressional records will show that owing to the President’s early pronouncements favoring a constitutional convention, many of us in the House and in the Senate scrambled in July 2016 to file bills and resolutions calling for a constitutional convention,” Atienza said.