Solon: Duterte doesn’t get to participate in charter change

MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Thursday said that President Rodrigo Duterte, or any president for that matter, will not participate in the process of amending the 1987 Constitution.

“The Charter does not give the President any role in the process of proposing and ratifying constitutional amendments. It is Congress, as a constituent assembly (con-ass), or an elected constitutional convention that proposes and the people ratify or reject the proposals. These are the first two Cha-cha modes under the Constitution,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

Rodriguez said he made this statement to correct the impression of some senators that a Congress-passed resolution in proposing amendments to the Constitution would be submitted to the President for this approval.

The Cagayan de Oro lawmaker further stated that a third option is “for the electorate to directly propose amendments through a people’s initiative.”

“After Congress, sitting as a con-ass, approves proposed amendments, it will send them to the Commission on Elections, with a request that a plebiscite is set for the people’s ratification or rejection of such proposals,” he said.

“Ultimately, it is not the Congress nor the President who will decide whether to approve the proposed amendments but the Filipino people where full sovereignty resides in a plebiscite to be conducted by Comelec,” Rodriguez added.

It was on Tuesday when the House committee on constitutional amendments adopted Resolution of Both Houses No. 2, filed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, which seeks to amend provisions that prevent foreign ownership of land and businesses in the country and to ease restrictions on ownership and management of mass media, public utilities, educational institutions, investments and foreign capital.

The resolution will now be brought to the House plenary for further debates.

EDV