Senate inquiry to tackle Cha-cha issues

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate will start its inquiry into latest attempts to amend the Constitution, but it must first resolve the basic question on whether the current pandemic is a good time to change the Charter, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said on Monday.

Pangilinan, chair of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, said his panel would focus its discussion on the timeliness of the Charter change (Cha-cha) effort, and would consult sectors most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

He said the hearing would tackle “procedural concerns” and “prejudicial questions” that needed to be considered in relation to the proposal to amend the Constitution.

The hearing will discuss Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 1, filed by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, and RBH No. 2, authored by Senators Francis Tolentino and Ronald dela Rosa; as well as Senate Joint Resolution No. 1, introduced by Sen. Richard Gordon.

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, however, emphasized that the country needs “transformed” leaders and citizens and not Charter change.

“It is the people that need to be reformed, not the system,” Pabillo, apostolic administrator of the Manila Archdiocese, said in his homily at the Sanctuario de San Jose in Mandaluyong on Sunday. INQ