House, Senate to vote separately on ‘Char-Am’
THE proposal to amend certain provisions of the 1987 Constitution is expected to gather more steam after both chambers of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate, “agree” to vote on the matter separately.
During a Senate hearing last January 27, 2021, Senate President Vicente Sotto III confirmed that the leadership of both chambers had already settled the issue.
“Indeed, it is correct that we vote separately.
“The Constitution mentions voting separately, I think, three or four times.
“And only once has it mentioned that we vote jointly and that is only in the case of martial law,” Sotto said.
Sotto was referring to a situation when the President is set to impose martial law, which was what happened when President Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao in 2017, in the aftermath of the ISIS attack and occupation of Marawi City.
Both chambers are now considering amending the economic and political provisions of the Constitution based on the remarks made by Pres. Duterte last month.
Originally, the Chief Executive wants the exclusion of terrorist organizations in the country’s electoral process, specifically, the front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) known as the ‘Makabayan Bloc’ in Congress.
Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, Duterte’s first chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and elected to the Senate in the 2019 midterm polls, expresses belief that the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic makes it more necessary to open the discussions towards amending the Constitution, particularly its ‘restrictive’ economic provisions.
Dela Rosa believes that more investments in local industries would help the country recover faster from the recent economic loss and “ensure inclusive and sustainable development.”
“As previous attempts will show, initiating discussions towards amending the Constitution is fraught with many challenges and issues.
“However, no matter how difficult and painstaking it may be, this representation sincerely believes that it is not just a timely endeavor but a just and worthy cause,” Dela Rosa said, during the virtual hearing of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
Also pushing for ‘Char-Am’ is Sen. Sherwin ‘Win’ Gatchalian, who claimed the move would help “unleash” the country’s full economic potentials,” which he averred further, is being “restricted” by the Constitution.
“I would like to hear from our economic managers, especially experts on the economy, on how our proposals on amending our economic provisions can be used as a tool to generate jobs, to generate investments and to help our people recover as fast as they can.
“The pandemic had become a game-changer. In fact, I have been monitoring our neighboring Southeast Asian countries. They now have truly overtaken us in terms of investment and job generation,” Gatchalian said during the same committee hearing.
