‘Speaker welcomes CBCP advise on Cha-cha discernment’

MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez agrees with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) advice to the public for discernment regarding charter change and constitutional amendment proposals, ACT-CIS party-list Erwin Tulfo said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the CBCP urged the public to exercise caution with regards to signing petitions to amend the Constitution, and that the people should be wary of “a few public servants” initiating the people’s initiative as there may be ulterior motives behind it.

Tulfo, however, also reminded the public that the people’s initiative process is already suspended after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decided to pause all proceedings related to the petition.

“‘Yong sinasabi po ng CBCP kanina, the instruction was, ‘sure’, sabi ni Speaker, ‘they have to think, we agree na pag-isipin nila nang mabuti, if they want divine intervention they can ask for divine intervention’.  Pero for now, wala na eh, what else, sinabi na ng Comelec so useless na ho ‘yon, suspended na ho ‘yon,” Tulfo said in an ambush interview.

 (What the CBCP is saying earlier, the instruction from the Speaker was ‘sure, they have to think, we agree that they have to think long and hard, if they want divine intervention they can ask for divine intervention’.  But for now that’s out of the picture because the Comelec suspended it already.)

According to Tulfo, talks on constitutional amendments are already out of the hands of the House of Representatives, as Romualdez told him that the direction of the legislative chamber is to abide with whatever decision the Supreme Court may hand regarding the people’s initiative.

Tulfo also noted that the House would also wait for the Senate, as they have vowed to tackle Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 — a proposal to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Several senators and different sectors have accused House leaders, including Romualdez, of being behind the people’s initiative.

Some senators also fear that the people;’s initiative will be a way to abolish the Senate, as it will require joint voting on the proposed amendments that will be presented.

Romualdez and key House lawmakers, however, clarified also that there are no political reforms being sought in the RBH No. 6, as this resolution passed by the House in March 2023 only calls for economic-related amendments.

On Wednesday, after Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri announced that the Senate would start hearings on RBH No. 6, House leaders said that they hope the tackling of constitutional amendment proposals would simmer down tensions and lead lawmakers to return to legislative work.