Rep. Tulfo: No instructions from Romualdez to push Cha-cha signature campaign

House Deputy Majority Leader Erwin Tulfo on Tuesday said that Speaker Martin Romualdez gave no instructions about pushing an ongoing campaign that seeks to gather enough signatures to enable the public to propose amendments to the Constitution.

"Wala namang instructions na ganun na, 'Let's do this, let's push this'...'may regalo sa SONA [State of the Nation Address]. There's no such thing,” Tulfo said.

(We were not given instructions to that effect, that this will be a gift for the President in time for his SONA.)

The ACT-CIS party-list congressman made the statement after Senator Imee Marcos said that she is not surprised that the Speaker—her first cousin—is being linked to the signature campaign for Charter change.

“Last I heard [between House leadership] tsaka mga political party leaders, hindi naman napag-usapan ‘yun na pipilitin na magkaroon ng people's initiative, na kailangan ng signature campaign,” Tulfo added.

(The House leadership and political party leaders have not talked about forcing people’s initiative, that signature campaign is needed.)

Former Ako Bicol lawmaker and Legazpi, Albay mayor Alfredo Garbin Jr., for his part, said the signature campaign for people’s initiative in his home province was initiated by the Albay chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.

A day earlier, Romualdez welcomed Senate leaders’ move to amend the 1987 Constitution's economic provisions by constituent assembly, meaning all members of Congress will vote on proposed amendments.

While the Constitution provides for a constituent assembly in amending the Constitution, the 1987 Charter does not explicitly state whether all members of the country’s bicameral Congress, composed of the House and the Senate, should vote jointly or separately.

The ongoing signature campaign for amending the Constitution specifically asks would-be signatories if they are in favor of amending Article 17 Section 1 of the Constitution by allowing all members of Congress to jointly vote on proposed constitutional amendments.

In the event this people’s initiative succeeds, the House of Representatives will effectively have the sole authority to vote on Constitutional amendments since its members, which exceed 300, will dwarf the vote of 24 senators. — BM, GMA Integrated News