Zubiri, Romualdez agree to stop 'word war'

 

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Wednesday said that he and Speaker Martin Romualdez agreed to work together professionally and stop the word war between the two houses of Congress over the controversial people's initiative for Charter change (Cha-cha).

The top leaders of Congress made the agreement in front of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. during the birthday celebration of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile in Malacañang earlier today, according to the Senate President.

"Sa harap [ni Presidente] nagkita po kami, nagkamayan po kami... Good news. Nag-usap kami ni Speaker kanina, Sabi po namin let's work professionally. Tigil muna ang bangayan and let's continue to work for the benefit of the administration para sa ating mga kababayan," Zubiri told reporters in an ambush interview.

"Hindi na maganda kung palagi po kaming nagbabangayan at magka-away. So, we committed to talk to each other, hopefully next week, for a secondary meeting kasi mabilis lang po 'yung pagkita namin kanina, nagkamayan po kami," he added.

Was there an agreement to order the members of the Senate and House to stop the bickering? Zubiri said it all depends on the senators and the congressmen.

For their part, Zubiri said that senators are "willing to let bygones be bygones."

With this development, the Senate president said there will be a "smooth flow" in the bicameral conference committee meetings and the Commission on Appointments hearings.

"Marami pang bills na hindi pa tayo nagkakaron ng bicam e. So, we'll now be able to call for CA hearings. Mas maganda kasi we'll have smooth flow. I know, medyo nagkasakitan 'yung ibang mga senador at mga congressmen, particularly, my majority floor leader, but that does not mean we cannot work professionally," he said.

Asked if they will heed the call of the House to stop the Senate investigation on people's initiative, Zubiri said that he cannot stop the members of the committee to pursue such.

"Hindi ko naman mapipigil 'yung ating mga chairpersons sa kanilang iba't-ibang mga committees. I''ll try a good friendly persuasion, pero we respect the committee process and the chairpersons of the committees," he said.

It was Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. who initially disclosed the brief encounter of Zubiri and Romualdez during Enrile's birthday celebration.

He also disclosed that Enrile asked the lawmakers to support the president.

The Senate and the House of Representatives have engaged in a word war due to the people's initiative efforts, which senators believed was backed by House leaders, particularly Romualdez.

These efforts to amend the constitution via people’s initiative has become controversial after several lawmakers disclosed that the public were allegedly bribed or promised with government aids in exchange for their signatures.

The signature campaign led by PIRMA, a group that admitted that they sought the help of Romualdez in gathering signatures, specifically asks voters 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.

This amendment is a departure to the existing provision which does not explicitly state whether the House of Representatives and the Senate should vote jointly or separately on proposed amendments to the Charter via constituent assembly.

The Senate had unanimously released a manifesto against the present people’s initiative efforts, saying the House is out to abolish the Senate given that the document for signature asks voters to if they are in favor of amending the Charter to allow members of Congress to jointly vote on Constitutional amendments, a setup which would consider the vote of 24 Senators and more than 300 House members.

The Commission on Elections had already ordered the suspension of all proceedings related to people’s initiative. —VAL, GMA Integrated News