While the Philippines' party list system could be improved, Senator Joel Villlanueva said Friday that the benefits it has brought to the country cannot be disregarded.

"I agree and believe that there’s a lot of room for improvement, but the party-list system has reinforced a culture of accountability and provided another layer of checks and balances in our government, that I think cannot be simply ignored and overlooked," Villanueva, a former representative of the Citizens' Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Party List, told reporters in a message.

President Duterte had asked Congress leaders during a recent meeting to abolish or make changes to the local party list system, echoing claims from his security advisers that some members of the House of Representatives are linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army (CPP-NPA). 

According to Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Duterte was not keen about simply amending existing laws and wanted legislators to convene a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) to amend provisions of the 1987 Constitution concerning party list representations.

"Other than the fact that Charter change will be a hard sell especially before the 2022 elections, the party-list system will have to be judged by its merits because I've personally seen how the system has allowed the poor and under-represented participate in decision-making," Villanueva commented.

"Amending the Constitution needs the full attention of everyone, especially all lawmakers --- attention and time that we lack right now for other things aside from top priorities such as the vaccination program and economic revival. I hope that talks on amending the Constitution would not be a distraction to what’s really important right now," he pointed out.

Sen. Nancy Binay also shared the same view, saying that talks on Charter change might not help amid the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises that hit the country.

"Ang kailangan natin pag-usapan ay mga panukula (What we need to discuss are proposals) that will unite us in making life better sa mga naapektuhan ng (for those affected by) pandemic at (and) calamities," Binay posted on Twitter, further writing the hashtags "#unitenotdivide" and "#cantdancechacha".

Sotto said he has yet to get a consensus from his colleagues on how to go about proposals for a Con-Ass to amend the Constitution.

He said he would personally opt to pass laws amending the current Party List System Act instead of going through the process of charter change. He also believed that it is "almost impossible" to amend the entire Constitution within the last two years of Duterte's term, although one or two amendments could still be discussed in Congress.

On Friday, he maintained that he was merely clarifying that Duterte did not request for a term extension of officials or a "no-elections" scenario in 2022 in pushing for charter change.