Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has warned against the possible negative outcomes that may snowball from the House of Representatives' alleged attempt to amend the Constitution through a People's Initiative (PI).

“Kapag pumasa itong proposal nila sa PI, mas madali pang baguhin ang Konstitusyon kaysa magpasa ng batas or to amend a law (If their proposed PI gets through, it would be easier to change the Constitution than to pass or amend a law),” he said in an interview on Friday, Jan. 26 during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Philippine National Police's (PNP) new crime laboratories where he was the guest speaker.

Cayetano appealed to his colleagues in the HOR and the Senate “not to burn the house down” amid the House’s perceived attempt to amend the 1987 Constitution through a PI.

Cayetano said that in amending the Charter, the process is as important as the final result.

“What I learned in politics is simple — it’s not just the results but also the process of getting there. Hindi pwedeng (It can't be) ‘the end justifies the means'... You’ll burn the House down [if you do that],” the independent senator told reporters at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

He says the main reason why the senators are rejecting the PI outright is that the proposed joint voting of the House and the Senate through a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) is a shortcut on such a crucial process.

“Shino-short cut kasi yung proseso na vote jointly. Basically ang sinasabi mo, (dahil) hindi mo maconvince ang mga senador, i-abolish na lang natin sila,” he said.

(You're short-cutting the pocess with joint voting. Basically you're saying that since you can't convince the senators, let's abolish them.)

“If sila (House) naman ang kinakapon, they will be reacting similarly. Kapag binaboy at mali ang proseso, mali na lahat ito,” he added.

(They will react similarly if they get castrated. If the process gets disrespected, then all of this is wrong.)

The House of Representatives has repeatedly denied any hand in the PI.

Cayetano also said the 24 senators, who on Tuesday unanimously stated their position against the PI, were not opposing the movement simply to protect their position but to protect the Senate as an institution.

“The reality is that when you are at war, everything stops and you focus on survival. For the Senate this becomes a survival issue not just because we are protecting our position, but also the institution,” he added.

This is why for Cayetano, both chambers need to sit down and talk.

Calling for cooler heads to prevail, Cayetano said he wants to be the sober voice between his colleagues in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“If I could be of service to the President, House, Senate, why not?" he said.

Cayetano said that in the end, it's the Filipino people who will bear the brunt of what he called “the start of a constitutional crisis."