Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Thursday, February 23 said he fully supports moves that call for amendments to the country’s 1987 Constitution but believes this would be an exercise in futility.
Dela Rosa pointed out even his colleaugues in the Senate are lukewarm to the proposal.
Sen. Robinhood “Robin” Padilla, chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, has filed a measure seeking to amend the Constitution through a constituent assembly (con-ass).
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., however, remarked that Charter change is not going to be a priority of his administration.
“Gusto ko baguhin (ang ating) Charter, but nagda- dalawang isip ako, dahil alam kong hindi yan makakalusot sa Senado dahil lukewarm ang treatment ng aking mga kasamahan pagdating dyan sa Charter change (I want to change our Charter, but I'm having second thoughts, because I know it won't get through the Senate because my colleagues treated it lukewarm to the idea of Charter change),” Dela Rosa said in an interview on ANC Headstart.
“While gusto ko, nakita ko (While I want it, I find it) will be an exercise in futility on my part if I will insist. Dahil di talaga kami makakuha ng numbers, so nasa gitna ako 50-50 ako (Because we really cannot muster enough numbers, so I’m 50-50 for it),” he said.
While he does acknowlede the need to change some of the economic provisions in the Constitution, Dela Rosa said there are already laws enacted by Congress that would address these issues.
“Pero ako talaga ang gusto ko baguhin yung (But on my part, I really want to change our) party-list system. Sana matanggal na yan (I hope we can remove that),” Dela Rosa said.
“Sa nakikita ko redundancy na yan sa representation (I see it as a redundancy in representation),” he said.
“Masyado nang naabuso yang party-list system na yan (The party-list system has been abused)…Meron naman tayong (We already have) district representation,” he further said.
Dela Rosa is also a member of the Senate constitutional panel, chaired by Padilla.