Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said he has only one vote and he could be outvoted by a majority of senators. "So why the focus on me?" Zubiri told Senate reporters as the issue of Charter Change between the Senate and the House of Representatives is heating up. "I want to put that on record. Kung sa (The Supreme Court has a Chief Justice, isang boto lang ang chief justice (the Chief Justice has only one vote). Meron pang 14 na justices of the Supreme Court (There are 14 other Supreme Court justices). I'm only one senator, why not they ask the other senators their opinions?" Zubiri said. There are 24 members of the Senate. "Again, the Chief Justice is primus interpares. I am only one. First among equals so I consider all my colleagues equal,’’ the Senate Chief said. The one-vote issue surfaced today as there appears to be an apparent impasse over the mode of amending the 1987 Constitution between the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate constitutional committee chaired by Senator Robinhood C. Padilla favors a Constituent Assembly (Con Ass) mode. The House of Representatives earlier passed a resolution of Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez favoring a Constitutional Convention (Con Con) mode. Rodriguez said he was disappointed after his invitation to attend the public hearing of the Padilla committee was cancelled last night. In asking Padilla to cancel the invitation to Rodriguez, Zubiri explained to Padilla that there is an inter-parliamentary courtesy between the two Legislative chambers. He said House members are invited to the Senate as guests, not as resource persons. "My open mindedness is for us to discuss further on this issue. We are not closing our doors for discussion, we are not closing our doors for a meeting. It doesn't mean that my position has changed. It only means that we want to discuss further with them on how to go about this,’’ he said. "I’m only one senator, why not they ask the other senators their opinions. Kasi kung outvoted kung sabi naman ng majority na gusto nila ng charter change )If I am outvoted by a majority), then we will go for the majority di ba? So why is the focus on me. The focus should not be on me but should be on members of this institution. I think the challenge now is let them talk to the members of the Senate if they really want to push for charter change. If they can change the mind of the senators so be it," he said. Zubiri said he does not favor moves to amend the Constitution as Congress leaders earlier agreed during a Legislative, Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting the need to pass 10 urgent bills. Queried whether his stand is not his priority, Zubiri replied: "It's not my priority. It is not my priority. I am only one out of 24.’’ As a former Senate Majority Leader, Zubiri said he has seen his colleagues outvoting the Senate President in many instances.





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