House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez on Thursday, February 4, maintained that President Duterte will not be participating in any of the discussions on the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
The Cagayan de Oro second district representative in a statement said this applies to any chief executive of the country, noting that the Charter does not provide for their participation in the constitutional amendments.
"The Charter does not give the President any role in the process of proposing and ratifying constitutional amendments. It is Congress, as a constituent assembly (Con-Ass), or an elected constitutional convention that proposes and the people ratify or reject the proposals. These are the first two Cha-cha modes under the Constitution," said Rodriguez, who previously chaired the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments.
Another option is for the electorate to directly propose amendments through a people’s initiative, he noted.
After Congress, sitting as a Con-Ass, has approved the proposed Charter amendments, they will be sent to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) with a request that a plebiscite be set for the people’s ratification or rejection of the proposals, he said.
"Ultimately, it is not the Congress nor the President who will decide whether to approve the proposed amendments but the Filipino people where full sovereignty resides in a plebiscite to be conducted by Comelec,” Rodriguez said.
"Whatever role the President has in Cha-cha, it is indirect", he said. "He can of course influence it through his allies in the legislature."
The House constitutional amendments committee on Tuesday approved the Speaker Lord Allan Velasco’s Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 (RBH No 2), which calls for the amendment of the Constitution's so-called "restrictive" economic provisions that limit foreign investor participation in certain sectors of the economy.
The resolution particularly proposes the addition of the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” on the provisions, allowing Congress to ease of lift them if they find it necessary.
Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Alfredo Garbin, the House panel's current chairman, on Wednesday called on the Senate to give the proposed economic Cha-cha a chance.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the chamber is open to the proposed Cha-cha as long as it will be limited to the economic provision, and not the political sections of the statute. Several senators, however, have also been questioning the timing of the move, as it comes amid the country's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We will wait for the plenary action so it can be classified as a reso then transmitted to us," Sotto told reporters following the House panel's adoption of the RBH.