MANILA, Philippines?(UPDATE 2) Senators on Monday unanimously agreed to hold a joint session with the House of Representatives to decide whether to revoke, shorten, or lengthen the martial law declared in Maguindanao.
Emerging from a caucus attended by 19 senators, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile also announced that majority of those present also adopted a ?non-binding? position to revoke the declaration contained in Proclamation 1959 ?subject to the facts that will be presented? before the joint session.
?The caucus insisted that there must be a joint session and this was communicated to the Speaker of the House and tentatively, they agreed,? said Enrile.
?The joint session will be held tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. in the Batasang Pambansa and we will require the resource persons of the Palace to be present so that they can explain the contents of the report of the President,? he said.
Majority of the senators, Enrile said, also adopted a ?non-binding? position to revoke the martial law declaration contained in Proclamation 1959.
?This is non-binding. It does not bind anyone of us,? he said.
There was also a suggestion in the caucus, Enrile said, to shorten the period of the imposition of martial law, instead of allowing it to last 60 days, ?in order to pressure the executive department to solve the problem of Maguindanao the soonest possible time.?
The Senate designated Senate Majority Floor Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri to meet with his counterpart in the House to thresh out the rules that will be used in the joint session.
Zubiri, in a separate interview, said he would sit down with his counterpart this Monday night.
Once they agree on the rules, Zubiri said, lawmakers might first turn the joint session into a committee of the whole before they invite resource persons from Malacanang to explain the proclamation.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo either through the Defense Secretary or the Justice Secretary, he said, would then be asked to explain why she had promulgated the martial law in the province.
?Kapag na-exhaust na po natin lahat ng questions ng ating mga senador at mga konggresista, ang pangalawang agenda (If all the questions of all the senators and congressmen are exhausted, the second item of the agenda) is to decide first if we will allow to put in the rules if we may shorten revoke or lengthen this length of time of martial law,? Zubiri said.
A simple majority of the membership of Congress, voting jointly, was needed to make a decision.
?So obviously, we don?t have the number in the Senate. But ang gusto po ng ating mga kasamahan sa Senado na mailabas po nila ang sentimyento nila. Yan po ang napakamportante (But our colleagues in the Senate want to express their sentiments. That is very important),? he pointed out.
?Kung matalo po kami sa botohan (If we lose in the voting), then so be it. But at least, we?d like to let the public know and place on record our stand on the implementation of martial law in Maguindanao,? he further said.
Earlier, Speaker Prospero Nograles said that the House of Representatives will defer to the wishes of the Senate on the decision on whether to convene or not.
?We will defer to the Senate,? he told reporters when asked what to do in case of a split decision between the House of Representatives and the Senate on the joint session.
Nograles stood firm that there was no need for the joint session because the martial law declaration contained in Proclamation 1959 has the backing of majority of the House members.
?We convene only to revoke it,? Nograles said.
Voting during the joint Senate and House of Representatives session would be jointly, and senators would apparently be outnumbered, Nograles said. He added it would also be ?chaotic? to call for a joint session without drafting the rules of procedures first for the joint session.
