Solon hopes House, Senate can meet on Cha-cha during Holy Week break

The Batasang Pambansa facade (File photo from the Facebook account of the House of Representatives)

MANILA, Philippines — House Deputy Speaker David Suarez hopes leaders of both the Senate and the House of Representatives can meet to discuss procedural questions about the economic Charter change when Congress goes on a break for the Holy Week.

Suarez, during the press briefing on Monday, was asked about different pronouncements from House leaders about the next steps to be taken once Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 is passed on third reading.

This measure proposes amendments to the 1987 Constitution’s economic provisions.

Suarez said the Constitution’s ambiguity highlights the importance of a meeting between the leaders of the two legislative chambers.

“So, I think number one, we can really see here the ambiguity of the Constitution because the Constitution only requires three-fourths vote of Congress,” Suarez told reporters at the Batasang Pambansa complex.

“We, here in the House, we’re set to approve this on the third and final reading on Wednesday, and I hope that our counterparts in the Senate will find enough time in their hands to approve the same,” he noted.

Suarez also said the high probability of petitions against economic Charter change being filed before the Supreme Court also stresses meetings between House and Senate leaders.

“You cannot avoid this and this will really go towards the Supreme Court. There will always be a constitutional challenge,” he said.

After lawmakers passed RBH No. 7 on second reading last March 13, some members of the Minority have conceded that the battle at the House has been lost, with Albay 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman saying that they will now appeal to the public — who will eventually vote in favor or against the proposed amendments.

READ: One step closer: House OKs RBH 7 on second reading 

READ: House minority concedes defeat on Charter change but continues fight 

However, there are still questions about how Congress would proceed once RBH No. 6 and RBH No. 7 are approved.

For one, the Senate believes that the two chambers should vote separately, while some members of the House believe all lawmakers should vote jointly.

READ: Puno cautions solons on phrasing in Cha-cha drive 

Despite the possible constitutional questions, Malasakit@Bayanihan party-list Representative Anthony Rolando Golez Jr. claimed that pushing through with the amendments is very important as it would positively impact different industries.

“In the health committee, we always ask, ‘Why do we lack 90,000 doctors in the Philippines? Why has the Philippines lost 300,000 nurses?'” he inquired.

“If you ask these questions, the answer is, ‘Students still in schools say that they need bigger income for their families,'” he said.

“So, we in the health committee, we thought the solution is with us. That was not the case. The solution — one of the major solutions – is in constitutional change,” he said.

“Why? The three provisions we are talking about […] This can easily affect 10 to 20 percent of our population, or it will redound to what, 20 million people, having a better life in the country,” he noted.