Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday said he believes House Committee on Constitutional Amendments chairperson Alfredo Garbin, Jr. is laying the basis to establish the notion that only the House of Representatives can propose amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
Drilon echoed other senators’ concern over Garbin’s claim his panel was already sitting as a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) when congressmen resumed the hearing on proposed amendments to the “restrictive” economic provisions in the Constitution.
“Cong. Garbin is wrong. The congressmen and senators were elected as members of Congress and as legislators to enact ordinary laws, not as members of a constituent assembly to propose amendments to the constitution,” Drilon said in a statement.
Drilon reiterated that in order that the House and the Senate can propose amendments to the Constitution, Congress—with the two houses voting separately—“must convert itself through a resolution into a constituent assembly.”
In the absence of such resolution of both Houses, the lawmaker said the proceedings in the House Committee “cannot assume the functions and the powers of a constituent assembly.”
“I suspect that Cong. Garbin is laying the basis to claim that the House alone, even without any senator participating, can propose amendments to the Constitution. Such claim is totally baseless, but a dangerous precedent,” the minority leader further stated.
Other senators also rejected Garbin’s pronouncement: “With all due respect to my good friend Congressman Garbin, Congress is in recess so I’m not sure how there was plenary action on their resolution to form a constituent assembly,” Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri said.
“Our rules only allow committee hearings to take place during the break. So he maybe discussing approval on committee level,” Zubiri added.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III agreed, saying Garbin’s panel is doing nothing but holding a simple committee hearing.
“Congress is on break, the only way a Con-Ass can be initiated and considered to sit as one is if it’s done in plenary and session assembled,” Sotto said when sought to comment.
“Eh Monday (Jan. 18) pa ang resumption. That’s a simple committee hearing they are conducting,” the Senate leader stressed.