Administration Senators Francis "Tol" Tolentino and Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa have filed a resolution calling on the 18th Congress to convene as a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) to make "limited" amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III confirmed Wednesday night that there has been proposal in their chamber to convert the Senate and the House of Representatives into a Con-Ass to amend the charter.
This comes amid reported plans from the congressmen to resume hearings on Charter change (Cha-cha) focusing on the Constitution's "restrictive" economic provisions.
Sotto, however, said such efforts might be a "touch and go" in the Senate since he has yet to get a consensus from the chamber's members.
"I really can’t tell. We need majority vote to approve the reso and convene but you need vote to approve consti amendments," he said.
Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, for his part, said the call for a Con-Ass "will not fly in the Senate."
The Senate's website showed that Tolentino and Dela Rosa filed Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 last December 7, 2020, calling on both houses of Congress to convene as Constituent Assembly "for the purpose of adopting amendments, limited to the provisions on democratic representation and economic provisions."
In the resolution, they said that "reforms need to be introduced into the 33-year-old Constitution in order to aid the country in achieving economic growth, especially during this time of rising global uncertainty."
"Against this backdrop mounting economic and health concerns brought about by the pandemic, it is important to ensure that the subsequent national policies and strategies for the rehabilitation of our nation be responsive to the needs of our people," the two senators also said.
In July, 2019, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian also filed a resolution of both Houses proposing amendments to Articles 12, 14, 16 of the Constitution, specifically, to allow Congress to tweak the restriction on foreign ownership of corporations, public utilities, educational institutions, and mass media.
Unlike Gatchalian, Tolentino and Dela Rosa did not specify on their resolution their proposed amendments to the Charter.
Since the 17th Congress, members of the Senate have maintained a cautious stance about Cha-cha, specifically on "self-serving" proposals to remove the term limits of politicians.
Sotto previously said that Charter change is not among the Upper Chamber's legislative priorities in the 18th Congress.