Senate President Vicente Sotto III said House constitutional amendments committee chairman and Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. had "overstepped" his authority when he declared that his panel had convened into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass).
"It is clear to me. It is clear that he is overstepping his power. That is not possible," Sotto said in an interview with CNN Philippines on Friday, January 15.
Senators had disputed Garbin's declaration of a Con-Ass last Wednesday in is committee's hearing on the proposed amendments to the "restrictive" economic provisions of the Constitution.
Sotto reiterated that a Con-Ass may be convened only after a proper resolution on a call for such assembly has been adopted in plenary.
While it was not specifically spelled out it the Constitution -- as Garbin had insisted -- "common sense" dictates that a Con-Ass consists of both the House and the Senate, he said.
"Common sense. Your committee must take it up in plenary and the Congress, the House of Representatives, will declare itself as part of a constituent assembly. Again, part, because the other half is the house of the Senate," he said.
"Therefore, a committee cannot declare itself as a constituent assembly. That is not possible," he pointed out.
Earlier, Garbin said that in discussing the proposed charter amendments, his committee is "exercising constituent power" and thus "sitting as a Con-Ass".
The 1987 Constitution says that the charter may be amended thru a constituent assembly of Congress where three-fourth of its members will vote on the revisions.
It was, however, silent on whether the Senate and the House should vote jointly or separately. Senators have long been pushing for a separate voting on Charter change.
Sotto said senators could discuss the constitutional revisions after the lower chamber has acted on it.
"If they do approve it in plenary and they declared themselves into a constituent assembly properly, then we will discuss the matter as a whole, sa Senate," he said.