Barbers: Senators reject Cha-cha to remain in their ‘comfort zones’
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers lead the hearing of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs in this file photo taken on May 17, 2023. (Photo from a video posted on the Facebook page of the House of Representatives)
MANILA, Philippines — The senators do not want to amend the 1987 Constitution because they “don’t want to get out of their comfort zones,” a member of the House of Representatives said on Sunday.
According to Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, the proponents of the people’s initiative (PI) simply want to address the “unresolved issue between voting separately or voting jointly” among the two chambers of Congress in a constitutional assembly.
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“Over the years, no concrete steps have been done to address this issue,” the lawmaker said in a statement, claiming that the issue has existed even in prior administrations.
Barbers, in defense of the PI’s proponents, said that this issue precisely has become a “stumbling block” to the country’s progress.
“Some Senators feign support for Cha-Cha but exploit every opportunity to halt it. They don’t want to carry it out via ConCon [Constitutional Convention], via ConAss [Constituent Assembly] and now with the People’s Initiative,” the Mindanao lawmaker’s statement continued.
“They don’t want to get out of their ‘comfort zones.’ This has been their modus operandi since 1987,” he added.
Barbers further said that if the senators do not want to change the Charter, then the House is left to exercise their rights as Filipino citizens and “support our people’s clamor to amend the Constitution.”
“And so, I urge Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez to grant us the option to support the People’s Initiative,” the solon said.
He then accused opponents of Charter change of perpetuating a Constitution that favors “political longevity.”
The people’s initiative aims to amend the Charter so that the Senate and House would vote jointly on provisions to further amend the Constitution.
In this scenario, the 24 senators may be outvoted by the over 300 members of the House.
