‘Senate is a cemetery for Charter change,’ says Salceda

FILE PHOTO: Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda says the Senate is “a cemetery” for Charter change as he lamented the upper chamber’s consistent opposition to efforts of the House of Representatives to amend the 1987 Constitution. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — “The Senate is a cemetery [for] Charter change.”

Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda issued the scathing remark on Wednesday as he alleged that the Senate has been consistently opposing the efforts of the House of Representatives to amend the 1987 Constitution.

He said the House had in previous years attempted to “systematically and orderly” push for Charter change (Cha-cha), but these initiatives “failed miserably” when it reached the Senate.

“The House has seen that going directly to the people is the way to go,” Salceda said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, as he explained why House lawmakers expressed support for the people’s initiative (PI) to revise the country’s principal code.

READ: Villanueva says he has proof House behind ‘fake people’s initiative’

In February 2021, the House approved the Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 (RBH 2), which sought Cha-cha specifically on economic provisions.

RBH 2 was filed by former Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and was co-sponsored by Salceda. It did not fly in the Senate.

During Wednesday’s forum, however, the Bicolano lawmaker said the Senate and House may compromise on the Cha-cha debate if the upper chamber passes RBH 2.

“I will consider that a victory for the House…even without PI,” Salceda stressed.

“If they pass it, immediately the House, in a split second, will concur,” he added in a mix of Filipino and English.

READ: House set to resume Cha-Cha deliberations on May 17

The two chambers of Congress have recently been in a fierce verbal exchange over matters concerning the amendment of the 1987 Constitution.

As House legislators support the PI, senators alleged that this effort is “fake” and marred with bribery and politics.