spot_img
27.7 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Clash over Con-Ass

- Advertisement -

SPEAKER Pantaleon Alvarez on Thursday insisted that both chambers of Congress should vote jointly when they convene as a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution, and said the House of Representatives could convene itself for the same purpose without the senators.

In a radio interview, Alvarez said the text of the 1987 Constitution was clear that Congress should vote jointly in a constituent assembly, and if the senators did not participate, the House could still get the approval of three-fourths of all members of the legislature to satisfy the requirement of the Constitution for Charter amendments.

“For us, this complies with the requirement of the Constitution,” he said in Filipino on radio dzMM.

Section 1, Article VII of the Constitution provides that “any amendement to, or revision of, this Constitition may be proposed by…Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members,” Alvarez said.

- Advertisement -

 

“We are the representatives of the people. We are the nearest link to the people, so why should a vote by the senators carry more weight than those of the congressmen,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez said it was time to amend the Constitution to shift to a federal form of government that would give the country’s regions equal opportunities, since they would manage their own economies.

Alvarez acknowledged, however, that proceeding without the Senate could bring challenges before the Supreme Court.

Still, he said, he expected Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, party president of the ruling Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino, to speak out on the issue.

He said PDP was founded by the Senate president’s father, former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., who advocated a federal system from the start.

Alvarez said he and President Rodrigo Duterte joined the PDP because they were convinced of the merits of federalism.

Once Congress convenes as a constituent assembly, he said, they would discuss the structure of the federal government and proceed from there.

Outlining the features of a federal system, Alvarez said the legislature should be streamlined.

In the end, he added, all the concerns raised against the shift to a federal form of government would be addressed, and submitted in a plebiscite to the people for their decision.

He said proceedings of the constituent assembly would be transparent to ensure that the proposed provisions would truly be beneficial to the people, and not serve the vested interests of lawmakers.

On Tuesday night, the senators agreed in an all-party caucus to stay away from the House-initiated assembly and were unanimous in insisting that the two chambers vote separately on amendments.

During the same caucus, Senator Panfilo Lacson proposed that any senator who joined the assembly would be expelled from the Senate.

A working draft of the proposed amendments prepared by the House of Representatives would clip the power of the judiciary to check the executive branch by deleting a phrase in the Constitution that mandates judges to determine if government commits a grave abuse of discretion.

The draft was prepared by a subcommittee under the House committee on constitutional amendments chaired by Southern Leyte Rep. Roger Mercado.

The draft measure seeks to delete an entire phrase from Section 1, Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution, citing “judicial overreach” in some cases.

The proposal which is being deliberated in the House, also seeks to abolish the Judicial and Bar Council  and delegate to the Prime Minister the power to nominate members and officials of the judiciary.

“The Prime Minister shall nominate and with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, appoint the Chief Justices and members of the Supreme Court and Constitutional court, the collegiate courts, the Ombudsman and his deputies, and the chairmen and members of the constitutional commissions,” the proposal reads.

The President’s allies also seek to amend Article III or the Bill of Rights to provide that only “responsible” exercise of freedom of speech, expression and the press will be protected.

“No law shall be passed abridging the responsible exercise of the freedom of speech, of expression or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances,” the proposed provision reads.

The House on Tuesday approved a concurrent resolution calling for the convening of both chambers of Congress into a constituent assembly to introduce amendments to the Constitution.

Mercado has said that voting on the proposal to convene the House and the Senate as a Con-Ass to rewrite the Constitution should be done jointly.

Senators have opposed joint voting because they are outnumbered by the House, which has 292 members.

Also on Thursday, a PDP-Laban official said the party is not seeking to extend President Duterte’s term or cut short Vice President Leni Robredo’s six-year term, even though the proposed amendments would abolish her office.

PDP-Laban vice president for international affairs Raul Lambino said the proposal to have a president with a five-year term and one chance for reelection would only apply to the next president.

He added that although the Office of the Vice President would be dissolved under the PDP-Laban draft charter, Robredo would be allowed to complete her term in 2022.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles