Former Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Former Ako-Bicol Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. has chided the Senate for making it appear that ithe chamber was spearheading the possible amendments to the 1987 Constitution--in short, Charter change (Cha-cha). 

Garbin, who spoke to reporters in an impromptu press briefing Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 16, said the senators only did so after they were "summoned to the principals office". 

By "principal's office", the ex-solon was referring to Malacañang, official residence of President Marcos. 

"Ang nangyari ngayon parang yung Senado ang pinatawag ng principal eh. Pinatawag ng principal, 'Punta kayo dito sa principal's office, gawin niyo nga ang inyong assignment at homework'," Garbin, a lawyer and former chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments said. 

(What happened was, it was like the Senate was summoned by the principal's office. They were told by the principal, 'Come here to the principal's office, do your assignment and homework.) 

"Lumabas naman ang statement, yung Senado, na 'OK, gagawin na namin ang aming homework.' Pero masama yung dating dahil pinalabas pa nila na sila yung mangunguna," he added. 

(The Senate then released a statement saying, 'OK, we will now do our homework.' But it's a bad look because they're claiming that they're leading the charge.) 

Garbin, a People's Initiative (PI) petitioner, said that it’s actually the other chamber in Congress--the House of Representatives--that has long performing the legislative groundwork for Cha-cha. 

"it's long been the consensus of Congress of the House of Representatives na matagal na tong dapat inaktuhan yung economic amendments ng ating Constitution (the economic amendments to the Constitution should have long been acted upon)." 

On Monday, Jan. 15, Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri filed Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No.6, which essentially called for a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) for the purpose of constitutional revision. 

Before this, Zubiri said he and fellow Senate leaders had a meeting President Marcos last week wherein they were supposedly tasked to lead the review of the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution. 

Garbin noted that the House had pushed for "economic Cha-cha" during the previous 18th Congress via the chamber's passage of RBH No.2. "Nai-transmit namin sa Senado, walang nangyari, inupuan (We transmitted it to the Senate, but nothing happened, they sat on it)." 

"Ngayon naman, 19th Congress, ganun parin. Kinahon, calling for Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) to tackle the economic amendments to our Constitution, inupuan pa rin," he said, this time referring to the House's own RBH No.6, which was passed back in March 2023. 

(It's the same case now in the 19th Congress. It was an encased measure calling for a Constitutional Convention to tackle the economic amendments to our Constitution, they still sat on it.) 

The 24-member Senate made the announcement on the Con-Ass measure after it was apparent that signature campaigns for the PI were gaining steam all over the country. 

Of the three modes for Cha-cha--Con-Ass, Con-Con, and PI--it is the PI that pundits view as unfavorable to the senators, especially if the Congress voting provision in the Charter gets amended through this process. 

There are currently over 300 House members, or over three times the size of the Senate. 

"It should be told na nangunguna talaga dito [sa economic amendments] yung House of Representatives (It should be told that the economic amendments were spearheaded by the House of Representatives)," Garbin stressed.