Senator Panfilo Lacson answers questions from reporters at the Kapihan sa Senado on Thursday, August 2, 2018.
INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
Charter change moves in the Senate look to be as good as dead despite Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s assurance of separate voting in a constituent assembly.
“Right now, as far as the Senate is concerned, the proposed Charter change is just waiting to be cremated,” Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said at the Kapihan sa Senado forum.
According to Lacson, Arroyo’s preference for separate voting in a constituent assembly carries no guarantee.
She is only one vote in the House of Representatives, he noted. “What if the majority of the members of the lower house have a different view?” he asked. Once a constituent assembly is convened, “anything can happen,” he said.—LEILA B. SALAVERRIA