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Friday, March 29, 2024

Cha-Cha bound to fail? Senator taunts House

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Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Monday taunted House members insisting on Charter change to ensure there is a return address on their bill.

READ: Senators urged to take steps for charter change

“If the House of Representatives would insist on passing Cha-Cha, make it a point to include their return address because the Senate and the Filipino people will not accept it,” Drilon said.

Drilon said the proposal to amend the Constitution is not a priority in the Senate, echoing a statement earlier by Senate President Vicente Sotto III.

“Our counterparts in the lower house have the fighting spirit of a Filipino athlete. I do not want to dampen their spirit, but their Cha-Cha is doomed,” Drilon said.

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Last week, a still unnumbered resolution was approved by the House committee on constitutional amendments in a closed-door meeting.

The resolution proposes, among others, to extend the term of congressmen and local government officials from the current three years to five years, and to add the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in economic provisions of the Constitution.

Drilon said the non-mention of Cha-Cha and federalism in the last State of the Nation Address was a clear message to Congress that Cha-Cha is no longer a priority of the administration.

“Apparently, the message was lost on the members of the House of Representatives. I had said it before and I will say it once more, Cha-Cha is dead,” Drilon said.

READ: Senate no rush to push House Cha-Cha reso

The minority leader said it is a self-serving move on the part of the House members to propose an extension of their term.

“The term extension is ill-conceived. It extinguishes all the good intentions they may have in mind in pushing for Cha-Cha. We will oppose it,” he added.

Drilon also noted that majority of Filipinos were against the proposed shift to a federal system of government, citing a 2018 survey by Pulse Asia which showed that 67 percent of Filipinos opposed Charter change, with only 18 percent were in favor and 14 percent still undecided.

Sotto washed his hands of the so-called joint resolution on Charter change.

“We have nothing to do with it because it is not a priority in the Senate. It’s not in any of the committees…. we are not even talking about it, so the House can do whatever it wants, and perhaps if they decide on something, then they can transmit it to us,” Sotto said.

READ: House revs up Cha-Cha reso

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