Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Senator Panfilo Lacson warned on Monday that the issue of whether or not Congress should vote jointly or separately under the proposed Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) to amend the 1987 Constitution could reach the Supreme Court.
Lacson pointed out that in the Con-Ass method, a vote of three-fourths of all members of Congress is needed to amend the Constitution.
But it was not clear, he said, in the Charter whether or not Congress—composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives—should vote jointly or separately.
“Yung Con-Ass, sabi ko most controversial kasi hindi klaro sa Article 17 I think, Article 17 Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution, ang sinasabi dun, three-fourths votes of all the members. Hindi naman sinabing voting jontly or separately so magkakaroon ng debate and ang nakikita ko aabot at aabot sa Supreme Court so lalong matatagalan,” the senator said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel’s (ANC) Headstart.
(I said that the Con-Ass is the most controversial because Article 17 I think, Article 17 Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution is not clear, it states there that three-fourths votes of all the members. It was not stated whether it would be voting jontly or separately so there would be debates and I can see that it will reach the Supreme Court so it would be prolonged.)
Lacson said he prefers a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con), whose delegates will be elected per region, over Con-Ass, wherein members of Congress will sit down to propose amendments to the Constitution.
He said Con-Con was not only simple but its delegates can also focus more on their work unlike the members of Congress, who might use the Charter change to advance their own personal interests.
“Naku, I don’t trust us,” Lacson said in a separate interview over GMA News TV. “Although mas magastos sabi nila, mas mainam na yung Constitutional Convention para talagang nakaka focus ang trabaho ng mga deligado sa pagbabalangkas o pag-revise ng ating Charter…”
(Although they say it would cost more, Constitutional Convention is preferable so the delegates could focus on drafting or revising our Charter.)
“At saka masyadong controversial ang Con-Ass at yung public acceptance maaapektuhan kung ipapaubaya sa mga mambabatas ang pagbabalangkas ng ating charter kasi alam naman natin may kanya kanyang self-interest yung mga mambatas din at baka kung anong mangyari,” he further said.
(Con-Ass is controversial and public acceptance would be affected if we let the members of Congress revise our Charter because we know that each lawmaker has his self-interest.)
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier disclosed that President Rodrigo Duterte now prefers the Con-Ass after learning that it would be costly to have a Con-Con. RAM/rga
READ: It’s Con-ass, not Con-con