Cha-cha without Senate participation? Impossible, says Pimentel

By: Charie Abarca - 1 year ago

MANILA, Philippines — “Unconstitutional [and] impossible.”

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III had this to say when he was asked on Monday what he thinks of the alleged plans in the House of Representatives to amend the 1987 Constitution without the Senate’s participation.

Pimentel said that with this attitude, their “friends” in the lower chamber would lose the support of the Senators.

“In their minds, they are already amending the constitution as far as the process for amending the constitution is concerned. They shouldn’t do that,” said Pimentel over CNN Philippines.

“All the more, if that’s the attitude of our friends in the House and they are announcing that, all the more they will really [lose] support of the senators. But what they said is anyway, we will do this without the participation of the Senate,” Pimentel added.

The opposition senator then disproved this supposed move.

“Not involving the Senate, and they believe that they can amend the Constitution? Impossible. That’s not only unconstitutional, that’s also impossible.”

House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez earlier expressed his renewed push for an economic Charter change (Cha-cha). Talks of using the People’s Initiative method to amend the Constitution have likewise resurfaced in both chambers of Congress.

But despite this renewed push for Cha-cha, the topic remained cold in the upper chamber.