Cha-cha not on Senate agenda before May adjournment

Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri BIBO ESPAÑA/SENATE PRIB

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers pushing for the passage of the proposed revisions in the 1987 Constitution before the 19th Congress adjourns next month may have to wait a while longer.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Monday that the upper chamber had identified 20 measures they would endeavor to approve before their sine die adjournment on May 22, but the one on Charter change (Cha-cha) was not among them.

According to Zubiri, they have already set at least three more hearings to tackle the proposed Resolution of Both Houses No. 6, which he authored along with Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda and Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara.

The measure had proposed to ease up the constitutional limits on the foreign ownership of public utilities, educational institutions and advertising companies.

READ: Zubiri sees Senate passage of 20 of Marcos’ priority bills in June

House version still pending

“The regional consultations will still push through. We’ll invite everybody,” Zubiri told reporters.

Asked if Cha-cha was included in the Senate’s priority measures, he said: “It’s not. These are all our own legislations.”

According to the Senate leader, a similar bill that the House of Representatives had approved, RBH 7, was still pending.

“Like other bills, it will be reconciled [with RBH 6]. Then it would still need the votes of at least 18 senators,” Zubiri said.

Right on track

House lawmakers, who are supporting Cha-cha have been urging the Senate to pass RBH 6 as soon as possible to make it a reality. They said that by October, those running for reelection in the May 2025 mid-term elections would be too busy and focused on their campaigns, resulting in charter amendments being placed anew on the backburner.

Zubiri said that among the bills that the Senate had identified in the Common Legislative Agenda of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) were the proposed Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act and the Self Reliant Defense Posture Act, which were just awaiting the approval of the bicameral committee.

According to him, the proposed Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System Act was already up for President Marcos’ approval.

“We are right on track when it comes to the approval of priority measures of the President both in the Ledac and in his Sona (State of the Nation Address),” Zubiri said.

“We are confident that the Senate can pass 20 of these measures before the regular sessions end and the rest of our commitment before this year ends,” he added.