House-Senate dialogue needed on economic Charter amendments — Honasan

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives and the Senate should hold a dialogue for both chamber’s ongoing push for the proposed economic constitutional amendments, former Senator Gregorio Honasan suggested on Thursday.

In a statement, Honasan, one of the resource persons of the committee of the whole, expressed his support for the approval of the Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7, adding that he sees nothing wrong with holding a discussion between the two chambers if he were Senate president.

READ: House committee of the whole approves RBH 7

This was his response when Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr., one of the principal authors of RBH No. 7, asked Honasan what he would do if he happened to be the leader of the upper chamber.

“You are putting me in a tight spot; it’s impossible for me to be the Senate president, but to answer your question: There’s nothing wrong with us talking and doing this together,” Honasan said in Filipino.

READ: Is economic Cha-cha urgent?

He added that leaders should settle their differences privately and avoid exposing each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Last Wednesday, the Committee of the Whole House approved RBH No. 7 — which seeks to amend three economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution — after six days of hearings.

Lawmakers earlier announced that they are scheduled to approve the resolution on the second reading next week and finally pass it before Congress on its Holy Week break on March 23.