The Senate building (MANILA BULLETIN)

Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda has challenged senators to convince Filipinos to vote "no" to the People Initiative (PI) once the plebiscite is held. 

This, as the House Committee on Ways and Means chairman chided the Senate for unanimously dismissing the PI movement, which had been revving up in the countryside the past few weeks. 

“Bakit kayo takot sa tao? Eh ang gagaling naman ninyo. ‘Di ba 24 kayo? Nagkaisa kayo eh ‘di makukumbinsi niyo ‘yung tao magboto ng 'no' [to PI],” Salceda said in an interview Wednesday, Jan. 24. 

(Why are you afraid of the people? You're good politicians. Aren't there 24 of you? All of you got on the same page, that means you can convince the people to vote no to PI.) 

The PI, which Salceda is supporting, aims for a constitutional amendment to enable Congress to “vote jointly” in future attempts at Charter change (Cha-cha). This will be turned into a simple yes or no question during the plebiscite, which proponents want to hold in June 2024. 

Also on Wednesday, Salceda claimed that the PI movement had already achieved the 12 percent requirement in its signature campaign. The next step is to file the PI petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which will verify the signatures. 

The Senate was supposed to pursue its own Cha-cha mode through a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) under Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No.6. But after it took to the belief that their House of Representatives were allegedly behind the PI movement, it balked on RBH No.6. 

Senators don't want joint voting between them and the 300-plus strong House because that would negate their influence due to being way fewer in number. 

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https://mb.com.ph/2024/1/24/pbbm-should-quell-confrontation-between-house-senate-on-cha-cha-says-lagman

In their signed a manifesto, the senators condemned the ongoing PI and cited allegations of bribery and other illicit activities. Proponents have denied this. 

Salceda, who is pushing for revisions to the economic provisions of the existing Charter, says it's time for the people's voice to be heard. 

“Hindi naman lagi na lang kayong nakikinig sa mga senador. Lagi na lang kayong nakikinig sa mga congressman. Bakit hindi natin pabayaan ang tao? Kaya nga nilagay ‘yan sa 1987 Constitution, ang PI. Para saan pa ‘yun?” he asked. 

(Don't always listen to the senators or the congressmen. Why don't we let the people be? There's a reason why PI was included in the 1987 Constitution. What is that for?) 

“Once and for all, why won’t we listen to the people? Let them speak,” the Bicolano said.