Senate urged to prioritize economic Cha-cha over people's initiative probe

At least three House members on Monday urged the Senate to prioritize working on the amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution instead of investigating the suspended people's initiative (PI) efforts.

The three — House Deputy Speaker Jayjay Suarez, Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo and Albay Representative Joey Salceda — made the call after President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. made it clear last week that his administration is only interested in tweaking the economic provisions in the Charter.

Marcos' statement came amid Senate deliberations on Resolution of Both Houses 6, which seeks to lift foreign ownership restrictions in the education, advertising and public utilities sector.

"If we are to move forward, maybe it is about time that we focus all our competence, energy and resources in passing the measure amending the economic provisions of our Constitution," Suarez said in a press conference. 

"The President has given us an order on what needs to be done, both Houses would have to act accordingly," he added.

The Senate is investigating the people's initiative efforts by the House of Representatives aiming to introduce changes in the Constitution by having both chambers of Congress vote jointly on the proposed amendments — a process that would put the 24-member Senate at a disadvantage compared to House, which has over 300 members.

House lawmakers did not take the investigation lightly, resulting in a "word war" between the two chambers.

In the same news briefing, Quimbo said the Senate inquiry on the people's initiative should take a back seat over economic Charter Change (Cha-cha), which she said will address lack of jobs and low wages in the country.

"We are all peace loving people here. Klaro naman ang sinabi ni Presidente: ang kailangan natin ngayon, a healthy and democratic debate. Sana naman po...ang problema kasi pag may mga inquiries sa Senado na nakakaapekto rito sa pag-achieve ng peace...that doesn’t help," Quimbo said.

(What the President said was clear: what we need now is a healthy and democratic debate. The problem is there are Senate inquiries that affect the harmony.) 

Salceda, for his part, said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision to stop accepting signatures for people’s initiative for Charter change due to lack of executory laws should assure the Senate that the House is only after economic amendments of the Constitution.

"We are shelving PI. That should be clear to them because that is the instruction of the President: [to] let the Senate do its work on RBH 6,” Salceda said, referring to a Comelec Resolution 10650 issued in 2020 governing people's initiative for amending the Constitution.

"With [Comelec Resolution] 10650 shelved, there are no more rules governing the PI. The shelving of the 1060 is the effective shelving of the PI," Salceda said. —KBK, GMA Integrated News