Honasan to file resolution to reverse Aquino’s veto of height requirement bill

Sen. Gregorio Honasan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Senator  Gringo  Honasan said  he would  file a resolution  when  Congress resumes session in June  to override President  Benigno Aquino III’s veto of a bill  that would repeal the height requirement for admission into the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).

Honasan is the main author of the  bill in the Senate and  chairman of the  Senate committee on  public order that deliberated and  approved the  measure.

“When the session resumes, I will submit this for the better judgment of both chambers. I will talk to my counterpart in Congress,”  he told  reporters in phone patch interview on  Tuesday.

“With the  two-third votes from both chambers, we can override the veto of the President,” he said.

Honasan  hopes that  the 198  congressmen and  19 senators  who  signed the  bill would not change their stand on the measure.

And  when Congress  gets  the needed votes to  override the veto,   Honasan said  the bill would no longer be sent back to the  President  for signature  as  it would automatically become a law.

The senator said the President might just have been  fed with wrong information that was why  he vetoed  the  bill.

But overwhelming votes from the Senate and  the House of Representatives, he said, would  show that the proposed measure was legitimate, not a “hao-siao” bill.

Senate  Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III also protested  the  President’s  decision to veto the measure.

“I’m sure the President did not review the congressional debates on the matter. We discussed his concerns and it was well explained by the authors and sponsors,” Sotto said in a text message.