MANILA, Philippines — Senior Deputy Speaker Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. on Thursday called on Senator Imee Marcos to give her full support to her brother President Bongbong Marcos in pushing for amending certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
Gonzales made the pronouncement after noting how Sen. Marcos appeared to be contradicting her brother’s policies.
READ: Imee Marcos ‘not sold’ on law for Charter’s economic provisions
“Kung ako si Senator – kapatid pa naman si Sen. Imee, tutulungan ko [ang Marcos admin] kasi the success of her brother is the success of our country and this only the economic provisions and there is no political. So iyon po ang puwede kong masabi,” said Gonzales in a statement.
(If I were a senator – especially since Sen. Imee is his sister, I would support the Marcos administration because the success of her brother is the success of our country. Moreover, this pertains only to economic provisions and not political matters. That’s what I can say about it.)
READ: Marcos wants only economic reforms in Constitution
“We will follow the President [on amending the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution],” he added.
According to Gonzales, Marcos’ policies are aimed at improving the lives of all Filipinos, “not just a few.”
“We’re all on the same boat or cruise ship called M/S Philippines. Why can’t she just help her brother succeed? President [Marcos] is the duly-elected President of the Republic with a resounding 31 million votes – the highest in history,” said Gonzales.
“If I were a senator, I would listen to the President because this (economic amendments to the Constitution) is our (Congress’) Valentine’s gift to him; this is for the good of the country, and only for the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution and that is very, very clear in Senate Resolution of Both Houses 6,” he added.
READ: Sen. Imee: I won’t defend ‘Aquino Constitution’, but no need to amend it now
Gonzales was referring to Imee’s beliefs pertaining to the 1987 Constitution.
Sen. Marcos previously said that while she had no intention to defend the “Aquino Constitution,” now is not the right time to amend the 1987 Constitution because of many pressing issues that need to be addressed.
The senator was also a fierce critic of the alleged people’s initiative seeking to amend the 1987 Constitution, even going as far as calling on President Marcos to “stand firm and put an end to it.”
The initiative has caused a rift between the Senate and the House. It was seen as a move to diminish the power of the upper chamber because the 24 senators could be easily outvoted by the more than 300 House members.
But recently, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that he and Romualdez have already agreed to “work professionally” during the 100th birthday celebration of chief presidential legal adviser Juan Ponce Enrile.