FORMER Senate leaders Vicente Sotto III and Franklin Drilon yesterday said only President Marcos Jr. can stop the continued bickering between senators and congressmen triggered by the people’s initiative (PI) campaign for Charter change.
“It’s unethical for me to say what I would do if I were SP (Senate President). The only person who could put a stop to this is the President,” Sotto, a former Senate President, said in a Viber message to reporters.
He noted that while Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has called for a ceasefire on the word war, “it can no longer be denied that some HOR (House of Representatives) reps are pushing it.”
He lamented that the squabbling “is very injurious to the country.”
Drilon, who also served as Senate President during his long years at the upper chamber, said it is “appropriate for someone outside the institution to mediate” between the two houses of Congress to finally put a complete halt to the bickering.
“Yes, I find it appropriate for someone outside the institution to mediate. The President (Marcos) can do it,” Drilon said also in a message to the media.
Drilon said the ongoing verbal tussle among lawmakers “is most unfortunate” as it is hampering the work of Congress to pass important legislations.
“While it is healthy to maintain the check and balance between the House and the Senate, interparliamentary courtesy is essential for Congress to perform its functions. Public interest is not served by the present conflict between the two houses,” he said.
MEDIATOR
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said he can arrange a meeting between Zubiri and Speaker Martin Romualdez for the two to come up with a win-win solution to stop the wrangling.
“Well, lahat naman ‘yan ay madadaan sa usapan. We are called honorable gentlemen here and hindi naman siguro aabot sa sigawan at murahan ‘yan (Well, everything can be resolved through a dialogue. We are called honorable gentlemen here and I am confident that will not end up in a shouting match over this issue),” Estrada said in an interview.
At the same time, Estrada appealed to congressmen to stop issuing “inflammatory” statements that would worsen the already tense situation.
“Tigilan na siguro ‘yung pagsasabi ng masyadong… ‘yung atake sa amin. Masyadong personal ‘yung ginagawang atake sa mga senador (They should stop attacking us because some [of their statements] are already personal) and that is not also acceptable to us as members of the Senate,” he said.
The Senate leadership over the weekend asked senators to observe a ceasefire on the bickering, which has already turned “too hot.”
But on Monday, the House adopted a resolution expressing its unwavering support to Romualdez in the face of supposed “intense assault” from the Senate on the lower house, which congressmen said was “in violation of the principle of inter-parliamentary courtesy and undue interference in the performance of its legislative and constituent functions.”
House Resolution (HR) No. 1562 was entitled, “Expressing Unwavering Solidarity and Support to the Leadership of the Honorable Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez and Upholding the Integrity and Honor of the House of Representatives in the Face of Intense Assault from the Senate in Violation of the Principle of Interparliamentary Courtesy and Undue Interference in the Performance of its Legislative and Constituent Functions.”
Senators took exception to the House resolution’s use of the word “intense” to describe their statements and criticisms.
Zubiri countered that it was the congressmen who have been attacking him during their press conferences.
OPEN TO DIALOGUE
House Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe said the House remains open to talk with senators, but they should stop attacking the integrity of congressmen, especially Romualdez, “who always reminds us to be open to dialogue with other colleagues in the Senate.”
“Kailangan naming tumayo bilang isang kapulungan para ipagtanggol ang aming dignidad at sinisira dahil lamang sa mga maling akusasyon ng ilang mga senador sa people’s initiative (We have to stand as one chamber to defend our dignity, which is being destroyed by false accusations of some senators regarding the people’s initiative),” Dalipe said.
“Hindi namin gusto ang word war (We don’t want a word war),” he said. “Inilabas lang ng mga congressmen ang kanilang saloobin sa nangyaring pag-atake sa aming Speaker at sa aming institusyon (Congressmen just expressed their sentiments about the attack on the Speaker and the institution).”
Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman, chair of the House Committee on Gender and Women Equality, said senators will also be angered if the House pilloried Zubiri and investigated him like they did to Romualdez. “What if we organize a congressional inquiry tapos ang idadawit natin si SP Migz Zubiri? (and we drag SP Migz Zubiri into it?),” said the lawmaker.
“But of course, we take the higher moral ground, and we will never do that. That’s unthinkable,” Roman said. “Ano ba ‘yan, kayo na lang ang tama at kami mali? Kayo na lang ang nagmamahal sa bansa at kami hindi? Kayo lang ang defenders of the Constitution at kami gusto naming babuyin ang Constitution? (What’s that? You are always right and we’re wrong? You are the only ones who love the country? The only ones defending the Constitution while we want to desecrate it?”
PI PROBE
Senate majority leader Joel Villanueva said the Senate ceasefire is only on the continued bickering related to the PI signature campaign, and not on the ongoing inquiry on the alleged buying of signatures for the initiative.
“Linawin ko lang po, kasi ‘yung sinasabing ‘ceasefire,’ eh ceasefire sa usapin ng PI, kaya we will refrain from debating on this issue. Pero ‘yung ceasefire does not mean ‘cease working’ or stop the PI inquiry
(I’d like to make it clear that the ceasefire refers only to ceasefire on the debates on PI, that’s why we will refrain from debating on this issue. But it does not mean that we will cease working or stop the PI inquiry),” Villanueva said.
While the Senate may be preoccupied with the morning hearings on Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 and due to its regular afternoon sessions, Villanueva said “we will also continue to be proactive in our measures to thwart unconstitutional Cha-cha (Charter change).”
Sen Imee Marcos, chairperson of the Committee on Electoral Reforms, said she will not stop the hearings, especially since she still needs to determine the participation lawyer Anthony Abad in the signature campaign and who funded the P55 million “EDSA Puwera” advertising campaign.
Abad’s name is seen on the signature forms that were distributed by PI proponents.
“Ipaliwanag niya kung sino siya at bakit siya may ‘et al’ na sinasabi naman hindi raw siya mismo (He needs to explain who he really is and why he has the words ‘et al’ in the PI forms which other people are saying that he is not the one pushing for the signature campaign),” Marcos said.
She said Abad sent an email to her office informing her that he will be available on February 8 and beyond, prompting her to tentatively schedule the next hearing on February 13.
Also, she said Noel Oñate of the People’s Initiative for Reform, Modernization, and Action (PIRMA) has yet to submit to the Senate the requested documents to show who funded the EDSA Puwera ad that was aired over three major television networks early last month.
Oñate earlier told senators said that he funded half of the P55 million paid for the advertisement, while the balance was from “donors.”
She noted that during last week’s hearing, Oñate promised to submit the documents “immediately” on the request of Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III.
“Nakailang araw na, isang linggo na wala pa rin kaya kinakailangan ibigay niya ‘yan agad at ipakita kung sino ang donors dyan. Titignan natin sa BIR dahil dapat nandiyan din ‘yan, may resibo dapat, at may pagbabayad ng donors’ tax lahat yun. Eh wala kaya nakapagtataka naman (A week has passed and he has not yet submitted them to the Senate. He needs to submit them to us immediately so he can show us who the donors were. We will also look at BIR records because it (donation) has to have receipts, and it should have donors’ tax. But they are not yet presented to us),” she added.
CHA-CHA PLEBISCITE
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara is pushing to align the Cha-cha plebiscite with the 2025 midterm elections so the government can save “billions of pesos” that will be spent if the voting will be done separately.
“Ang goal ko kasi, although the Constitution also sets the timeline, you must set the plebiscite 60 to 90 days after it passed by Congress. We have to reconcile that timeline of having the plebiscite along with the 2025 elections kasi magastos ang plebiscite (because plebiscite entails a lot of expenses),” he said.
Angara said that by aligning the plebiscite with the 2025 midterm elections, there will be a more efficient and cost-effective approach to implementing Charter amendments.
But Dalipe is not keen on Angara’s proposal to hold the plebiscite simultaneously with the 2025 national elections, saying it the issue will be more politicized by then.
“We do not want that specific provision or that amendment in the Constitution be included in the midterm election, mapupolitika na (it’ll be politicized),” he said. “So, we would want to fast track it, kung pwede ngayon na (if they can, do it now).”
“Lahat ng options andiyan na (All options are there),” he said. “But we in the House of Representatives, we are pleading to our counterparts in the Senate to move fast on it because we’re running against time.”
Zubiri has said there is no rush for the sub-committee of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, which Angara chairs, to rush discussions on RBH No. 6.
But House leaders reminded Zubiri of his self-imposed deadline of approving the measure by March.
“Regarding what the Senate President said, we have transcripts of that press conference last January 15, 2024. I have a video showing (Zuburi saying) that these amendments are very simple. [He said]: ‘I don’t see any problem finishing in this quarter. Before the Holy Week break, I don’t see any problem. Because these are just three issues and are very simple,’” Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. said, speaking partly in Filipino, in a briefing on Tuesday.
“That’s what the Senate President said, and that is what the House has been talking about… So we are not imposing on or directing the senators, we are not instructing them, we are just basing these from their leader’s statements,” he added.
Dalipe said the timeline did not come from the House since it was the Senate President who floated it, which elated congressmen who have been waiting for the Senate to act on the proposal to amend the Constitution for such a long time.
CHA-CHA STAND
Dalipe yesterday dared senators to “come out in the open” and declare his or her position on the proposal to amendment the Constitution, saying the public has to know “once and for all.”
“This is my challenge now to all senators: Why don’t you, 24, come out in the open?
Sabihin natin sa buong Pilipinas, sino ‘yung mga senador pabor to amend, to update the 37-year-old Constitution at sino mga kontra (Let’s tell the Philippines who among the senators are in favor of amending, to update the 37-year-old Constitution and who are against,” he told a joint press conference with other House leaders.
The Zamboanga City lawmaker said the senators’ stand on the issue should be made public so the people “can decide whom to put in the Senate (in the 2025 midterm elections).”
“Open cards tayo sa taumbayan (Let’s open our cards to the people),” Dalipe said. “Let’s come out, let us not hide, you know, in veils and saying all these words na lumalabas parang nag-aaway (that it appears we’re fighting). Open cards tayo sa taongbayan (Let’s open our cards to the people),” Dalipe said.
Roman said senators should be honest and let the public know its stand because Charter amendments is an urgent concern: “Huwag na tayo magbolahan. Magtapatan na tayo (Let’s not fool each other here. Let’s be frank).” — With Wendell Vigilia
