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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider No Senate involvement in Cha-cha? 'Impossible', 'unconstitutional' says Pimentel

No Senate involvement in Cha-cha? 'Impossible', 'unconstitutional' says Pimentel

Published Dec 18, 2023 08:58 am

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III said on Monday, December 18, that the process of amending the Constitution without the participation of the Senate is not only "unconstitutional" but also "impossible."

In an interview on CNN Philippines, Pimentel stated that even the procedure for amending the Constitution must be properly amended first.

"In their minds they are already amending the constitution as far as the process for amending the Constitution is concerned. Wag nilang gawin yon. You amend the Constitution first," he said.

"Kung ganyan kasi ang attitude ng ating mga kaibigan sa House at ina-announce nila yan (If that will be the attitude of our friends in the House), all the more they will really lose support of the senators pero ang sabi nila (but they said) anyway we will do this without the participation of the Senate," he added.

Pimentel also mentioned that there are senators who are explaining the issue to the people and telling the people that what the House is doing is unconstitutional.

"So huwag na nilang gawin yan kasi palayo na tayo nang palayo (It's better that they do not do that because they are moving away) sa mga real problems confronting our people," he said.

Pimentel said that the number of senators supporting the general idea of amending the constitution would be counted, these senators are just a minority of the 24-member Senate.

Earlier, House Senior Deputy Speaker Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales said that he is looking at a People's Initiative (PI) as the mode that could actually launch Charter change (Cha-cha) efforts off the ground.

The PI, Con-Ass (Constituent Assembly), and Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) comprise the three ways that the 1987 Constitution can be amended.

Related Tags

Charter change Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III
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