House leaders to senators: Make a stand for or against economic Cha-cha now

House leaders on Tuesday called on senators to come clean as soon as possible if they are in favor of amending the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution or not.

House Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe of Zamboanga City made the call a day after Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that the Senate won’t rush its deliberations on Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6 which lifts restrictions on foreign ownership of vital industries, including public utilities.

Zubiri and the senators had also said that Charter amendments are serious and cannot be approved without thinking.

“Why don’t you come out, 24 senators, come out in the open? Sino po iyong pabor to update the 37-year-old Constitution at sino ang mga kontra? This is my challenge,”  Dalipe said in a press conference.

(Who among you are in favor of updating the 37-year-old Constitution, and who are not?)

“Why don’t you come out and stop hiding instead of saying all these words? Let us open [our] card sa taumbayan about our proposals, for us to be transparent to the Filipino people, then let's see who they will elect come the 2025 midterm polls,” Dalipe added.

(Let's show our cards to the public.)

Bataan Representative Geraldine Roman, chairperson of the House Committee on Gender and Women Equality, said Charter amendments are of urgent concern and as such, senators should not stop beating around the bush.

“Huwag na tayo magbolahan. Magtapatan na tayo,” Roman said.

(Let’s not joke around here. Let's tell the truth.)

House Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga lawmaker Aurelio Gonzales, Jr., for his part, said that it is the Senate, not the House, who said that they can approve RBH 6 during the first quarter of this year.

Gonzales said such timeline was given by Zubiri in a January 15 press conference, when the RBH 6 was filed.

“That is what the Senate President said last January 15, na napakasimple lang nito (RBH 6). Hindi po namin inuutusan iyong senador. Iyon po ang sinabi ng kanilang leader,” Gonzales said.

(The Senate President said these are simple amendments. We are not ordering them around. The timeline was set by their leader.)

“The timeline was not given by the House, but by the Senate President. He said on January 15 that it can be done during the first quarter,” Gonzales added.

Sought for comment, Zubiri said that he defers the decision on the timeline to Senator Sonny Angara, chairperson of the Senate subcommittee tackling RBH 6.

“I’ll leave it to the subcommittee chairman Sonny Angara to decide when the deadline will be,” Zubiri told GMA News Online.

On Tuesday, Angara said that he was eyeing passing the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution in time for the conduct of the 2025 national and local elections.

"Ang goal ko kasi, although the Constitution also sets the timeline, you must set the plebiscite 60 to 90 days after it [was] passed by Congress. We have to reconcile that timeline of having the plebiscite along with the 2025 elections kasi magastos ang plebiscite," Angara was quoted as saying in a radio interview.

(Although the Constitution sets the timeline, my goal is, you must set the plebiscite 60 to 90 days after it was passed by Congress. We have to reconcile that timeline of having the plebiscite along with the 2025 elections because a plebiscite costs a lot.)

The House has already pledged to adopt the Senate's version of RBH 6 once the Senate approves it.

Dalipe sees such a 2025 timeline as setting up RBH 6 for failure, given that campaign fever for the May 2025 polls will commence after the filing of certificates of candidacy in October this year.

“We already know that come October, it is already campaign season, campaign fever. Everybody will be busy preparing for the midterm elections. Even now, some legislators are busy, the Senate is busy conducting investigations. What more come October?'' Dalipe said.

“We do not want that amendment in the Constitution to be included in the midterm election, mapupolitika na siya (It will be politicized),” Dalipe added.

Roman said that the Senate has no reason to further delay Charter amendments.

“We are not questioning their credibility. But there is a saying, if there’s a will, there’s a way. They should work with a sense of urgency. They should walk the talk,” Roman said.

'Self-righteous'

In the same press conference, House leaders defended the House plenary’s adoption of a House Resolution calling out the Senate for “undermining" the House’s independence following an investigation that linked Speaker Martin Romualdez to the Charter change (Cha-cha) signature campaign.

The House leaders noted that Romualdez and House members had been unfairly accused of being involved in the alleged signature for sale scheme in the people’s initiative for Cha-cha.

“During our all member caucus, inilabas ng mga Congressman ang kanilang saloobin, at galit sila sa pambabastos ng ilang Senador sa aming Speaker during the [Senate] hearing on people’s initiative. We were told by the Speaker to temper the situation all the time, so we came up with the House Resolution expressing our sentiment over the false accusations of the Senators concerning the people’s initiative,” Gonzales said.

(The lawmakers are really furious over the disrespect directed at the Speaker during the Senate hearing.)

“I did not know we are not allowed to feel that way. They should have a minimum amount of empathy. Why have an inquiry aimed at the leader of another chamber? And these insinuations that we are involved in illicit and illegal activities [concerning the people’s initiative]?" Roman said.

She added that senators are not the only ones who love their country.

“Kayo lang ang nagmamahal sa bansa (Are you the only people who love this nation)? You are the only defenders of Constitution? Self-righteous much?'' Roman said.

“There is nothing wrong with a little bit of humility. Bababuyin ang aming leader, sino ang hindi magrereact (You dragged our leader, who wouldn’t be furious?) We should not engage in character assassination. This is not the way we should do things,” she added.

During the January 30 Senate inquiry, People’s Initiative for Modernization and Reform Action (PIRMA) lead convenor Noel Oñate admitted that he had coordinated with Romualdez to get the necessary signatures per congressional district for the people's initiative for Cha-cha.

Senator Imee Marcos, Romualdez's cousin, had said that the Speaker's office was "definitely" behind the alleged P20-million allocations for congressional districts to push for the people's initiative. —with Hana Bordey/KG/VBL, GMA Integrated News