Solons hope Senate commitment with RBH 6 would ‘simmer’ down tensions

House of Representatives plenary FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers from the House of Representatives hope that the Senate’s commitment to act on Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 would simmer down tensions between the two chambers of Congress, and eventually lead lawmakers to focus on legislative work.

Rizal 1st District Rep. Michael John Duavit on Wednesday said that House leaders are happy with the recent statements from Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, who announced earlier that the subcommittee that will tackle RBH No. 6 will be formed.

“On my part po actually masaya kami dito sa nangyayari na sa Senate na nag-schedule na sila, na meron na silang hearing.  Like I said two days ago, in an ideal world nga, ‘yong mga debate mangyayari sa official na kapasidad.  And I think that is the beginning of that,” Duavit said.

(On my part actually we are happy with what has happened with the Senate, that they have scheduled a hearing already.  Like I said two days ago, in an ideal world, the debates should happen in an official capacity.  And I think that is the beginning of that.)

“Again we respect them, a lot of them were our colleagues, and I think this is the start of things simmering down and getting back to work.  So we welcome it very much,” he added.

READ: Senate to tackle economic Cha-cha next week 

According to Duavit, just starting discussions about the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution’s economic provisions is already good enough, because the important thing to him is that lawmakers sit down and talk about the proposals.

“Now, any start is — just to start it is good.  If it ends up in whichever mode that is agreed upon by both Houses, ang sabi ko kanina sa meeting ang view ko do’n is ‘alam mo minsan ‘yong debate mas importante sa resulta’.  Mapalitan man ang konstitusyon o hindi, ang maganda eh ‘yong napag-usapan.  So that is our view, we are already on record as to what our views are towards this,” he said.

(Now, any start is — just to start it is good.  If it ends up in whichever mode that is agreed upon by both Houses, I said in the meeting earlier that my view with that is ‘you know, the debate is more important than the results’.  Even if we alter the Constitution or not, the good thing is we talk about it.  So that is our view, we are already on record as to what our views are towards this.)

House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, meanwhile, said that they will wait eagerly for the Senate’s version, and hope that it will be transmitted to the House within the timeline given — before Congress adjourns session on March 23 for the Holy Week.

“We welcome that development, because that is what we agreed and have been waiting for since the start of this year.  They filed Resolution of Both Houses No. 6, and in fact if we backtrack that [RBH No. 6] filed by the Senate President, [SP] Migz Zubiri even gave a timeline that they will pass it this March,” Dalipe said.

“So the House, we are patient enough in waiting for them to pass it this March.  So maghihintay po ang House (we will wait).  So we welcome, we would like to thank our counterparts in the Senate for finally sitting down as what we were requesting, let’s bring it up to a higher level of discussion, particularly which is the meat of the matter, the economic amendments that has to be made to help this country […] to update that 37-year-old Constitution,” he added.

Earlier, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez thanked the Senate for its commitment regarding RBH No. 6, assuring the upper chamber that they would be ready to cooperate and collaborate.

READ: Romualdez assures House collaboration with Senate as RBH 6 talks start 

Romualdez — amid rumors of distrust between the two chambers of Congress — also told senators that the House is ready to approve the amendments that the Senate will make in their version of RBH No. 6

Last December 2023, Romualdez and Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. floated the possibility of discussing charter change proposals anew.  But since the Senate has not acted on RBH No. 6 — which calls for a constitutional convention to amend the Constitution — Gonzales said they might entertain PI proposals.

RBH No. 6 was approved by the House as early as March 2023.

But after the PI’s signature campaign gained traction early January, Zubiri said that he, Romualdez, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. have agreed that the Senate would just push for their own version of RBH No. 6.

READ: Romualdez: Senate’s RBH 6 may be answer for people’s initiative backers 

Then on January 23, all 24 senators signed a manifesto against the PI, as the campaign asks that the House and the Senate vote jointly on the proposed constitutional amendments.  Such a voting scheme would allow 300 House lawmakers to overpower the vote of 24 senators.

READ: Senate manifesto nixes people’s initiative, warns of no-el scenario 

Several senators, including Senator Imee Marcos, also said that the House leadership is behind the PI campaign, but Romualdez and other House officials denied this — with the Speaker himself even noting that he welcomes the Senate’s RBH No. 6 and is willing to work with them in this regard.