Some senators suspect that members of the House of Representatives have been insisting on prematurely convening a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) on their own to push for a joint voting and disregard the Senate in the efforts to amend the Constitution.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Monday that he believes that the House members intend to bring the matter to the Supreme Court (SC) to still pursue a joint voting on the proposed Charter change (Cha-cha).
"Ganito ang nakikita ko, ipipilit nila na ang botong three-fourths (This what I am seeing, they will insist the three-fourths vote of the entire Congress). (That) to pass an amendment, (it) would require the total votes of both House and the Senate," Drilon said in an online interview with reporters.
"Since numerically, mas marami sa House, sasabihin nila sapat na ang boto, hindi kailangan ang boto ng iisang senador, dahilan sa three-fourths vote ay puwedeng manggaling lamang sa House of Representatives (Since numerically, the House has more members, they would say that their votes are enough, that votes from the senators are no longer necessary since the three-fourths vote could just come from the House of Representatives).”
"Kaya po pinipilit nila na ito'y Con-Ass na...Dadalhin nila sa Korte Suprema ang isyu kung ito'y puwedeng Kongreso lang – na wala namang basehan – o kailangan ang boto ng Senado (That's why they are insisting that they have already convened into a Con-Ass...They will bring the issue to the SC to decide if the House can vote on this alone – which would be baseless – and if the Senate's vote is no longer necessary)," the former Senate President added.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson also has the same suspicion, raising concern that the 24-member Senate would end up being insignificant should the SC interpret the Constitution as saying that Congress must vote jointly on Charter amendments.
"Alam mo, masama ang plano nila, eh. Meron na rin nagsasabi na dadalhin nila sa Korte Suprema 'yung interpretation. so 'yun ang talagang plano nila, balewalain ang Senado (You know, they have a sinister plan. Some have also been saying that they will bring their interpretation to the SC. So that was their plan, to disregard the Senate)," Lacson said in an interview over radio DWIZ.
"Saan kami ngayon pupuluting mga senador? Eh 'di sila na lang 'yon, balewala na kami (Now where will us senators end up? They will just decide on their own and we won't have a say anymore)," he added.
Senators – and even some members of the House – disputed the position of House Committee on Constitutional Amendments chairman Ako-Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. who declared last week that his panel was already sitting as a Con-Ass in discussing the proposed changes to the "restrictive" economic provisions of the Charter.
A Con-Ass can be convened in plenary, but not on the committee level and during the recess, they said. Sessions will resume Monday.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the House only forms part of the Con-Ass, with the Senate remaining as its counterpart.
The 1987 Constitution says that the Charter may be amended thru a Con-Ass of Congress where three-fourth of its members will vote on the proposed revisions. It was, however, silent on whether the Senate and the House should vote jointly or separately.
Senators have long maintained that the Senate and the House should vote separately on Cha-cha, saying they would be outnumbered by congressmen, which currently counts to 307.