House-Senate meetings on Cha-cha during session break pushed

  

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives and the Senate should meet more often to discuss charter change (Cha-cha) proposals during the session break, Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. LRay Villafuerte said on Monday.

Villafuerte, in a statement,  said that there should be more talks especially now that Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said he remains open to any proposal that the Senate may have regarding the push to amend the 1987 Constitution.

“Speaker Martin’s openness to any Senate proposal on how to pursue constitutional reform, despite the supermajority support in the House for a Con-Con (Constitutional Convention) to pursue the  makeover, augurs well for an early meeting between Charter Change proponents in both chambers to try finding a common ground on how to do it before the year is over,” Villafuerte said.

“Hence, the timeliness of holding  the week-ago’s called-off meeting on Charter Change between Sen. Robin (Padilla) and a House delegation led by Rep. Rufus (Rodriguez) during our legislative break,” he added.

Villafuerte also noted that having the called-off hearing on Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 and House Bill (HB) No. 7352 during the break will send a message that amending the 1987 Constitution is urgent.

Congress adjourned its session last March 22 for the Holy Week, and will resume session on May 8.

 “Holding the called-off meeting on RBH 6  and HB 7325 even during our break will drive home the message on the urgency of constitutional reform, given that we cannot hope to replicate the inrush of FDIs (foreign direct investments) to our more vibrant neighbors for so long as we remain stuck with the antiquated economic provisions of our Constitution on  restricted foreign participation in Philippine businesses that that have put off investors,” he said.

“The House members could freely attend such a Senate hearing, if there will be one, especially now that the House leadership had authorized the heads of the various House committees to hold meetings during our congressional break, if and when needed,” Villafuerte, one of the lawmakers who filed bills seeking charter change, added Villafuerte.

READ: Senate, House leaders end word war on charter change

Romualdez said that the House is not closing its doors on the Senate’s preferred charter change mode — clarifying the statements of Leyte 4th District Rep. Richard Gomez, who claimed he has convinced the speaker to support a constituent assembly.

 Under a constituent assembly, members of Congress would sit as delegates tasked with amending provisions or initiating reforms in the Constitution. 

There were, however, questions as to whether Congress — Senate and the House — should vote jointly, or vote as separate collegial bodies.

If Congress votes jointly, the Senate would be put at a disadvantage because there are only 24 members while the House has over 300 lawmakers.

The charter change proposals that the House approved recently used a hybrid constitutional convention, where voters would elect delegates while both the Senate President and the Speaker would appoint other members.

 gsg