Senate’s united stand vs joint voting on Cha-cha backed by Constitution – Sotto

Backed by the Constitution, the Senate is united against moves that would allow Congress to vote jointly on any amendments to the Charter, Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Friday.

Sotto pointed out that joint voting by Congress is only allowed on martial law declaration.

“Jointly, separately? Pwede ba tigilan na. Consti says only in martial law vote ang jointly. Nowhere else is jointly mentioned,” he said on Twitter.

Asked in a text message if the Senate has specific plans to stop the joint voting being pushed by some lawmakers, Sotto said there was no need for it as he already has his own strategy “in case some people are insistent on violating the Constitution.”

But when asked again if the Senate has a united stand against the issue of joint voting on Charter change (Cha-cha), the Majority Leader said: “Yes. Backed up by the Constitution.”

“Matagal ko nang pinag-aralan yan. 2016 pa,” Sotto added.

He said there are times that the two chambers of Congress— the Senate and the House of Representatives — can discuss jointly on some issues “but never in voting.”

Some senators, including Senate President Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III, Senators Panfilo Lacson, Grace Poe, and JV Ejercito have openly expressed their stand that voting on Cha-cha should be done separately by the two chambers.

In fact, Lacson is set to file next week a resolution, calling for the Senate to constitute itself into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) to tackle and vote on any amendments to the Charter, separate from the House.

READ: Lacson to file resolution to convert Senate into Con-ass

Previously, Ejercito warned against moves to railroad Cha-cha and stressed that Congress must vote separately on the matter.

“We should not railroad a process that would fundamentally alter our system of government. But the most important issue for me is that the Congress has to vote separately,”   he said in a statement earlier this week.

“I am not prepared to support a process that would diminish the power and independence of the upper chamber,” he added.

Ejercito also said he was more inclined to support the holding of a plebiscite side by side with the 2019 midterm elections in order to give Congress enough time to study the proposed changes to the 1987 Constitution, particularly the shift to federalism.      /kga