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Suarez says House not 'bullying' Senate: We're just more vocal, aggressive now

Philippines | National

Suarez says House not 'bullying' Senate: We're just more vocal, aggressive now

By Ellson Quismorio

At A Glance

Deputy Speaker Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-jay" Suarez denied on Monday, Feb. 12 that he and his fellow House members have been "bullying" their Senate counterparts.

House Deputy Speaker Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-jay" Suarez

Deputy Speaker Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-jay" Suarez denied on Monday, Feb. 12 that he and his fellow House members have been "bullying" their Senate counterparts.

According to Suarez, senators might not be used to the more vocal and proactive House of Representatives that they are seeing.

"May nabasa kasi ako na binubully daw namin yung Senate (I read somewhere that we're bullying the Senate). No, not at all. I think what the Senate is realizing now is we have a House of Representatives that is more vocal," Suarez said in a press briefing.

"Kasi dati, nag-aantay lang kami kung ano gagawin ng Senate, nag-aantay kami, tahimik, kung ano magiging development (In the past, we would just wait for the Senate's lead, we would quietly wait for whatever developments there would be).

"But right now, you see the aggressiveness of members of the House when it comes to tackling national issues," the Deputy Speaker underscored.

The 300-member House of Representatives and 24-member Senate have been butting heads the last few weeks on the topic of the People’s Initiative (PI) and Charter change (Cha-cha).

The House has essentially been asking the Senate to approve its Cha-cha measure, Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No 6, as soon as possible in order to hasten the revision on the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

ALSO READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2024/2/9/binay-bares-wish-for-chinese-new-year-a-stop-to-parliamentary-bullying

In her Chinese New Year wish over the weekend, Senator Nancy Binay said she wanted to "parliamentary bullying" to stop.

"Wala namang bullying na nangyayari (There's no bullying going on)," Suarez said.

"I think what the Senate is seeing is that the House is more vocal when it comes to national issues. The House is more vocal talking about issues close to their heart. The House is reacting to what is happening in our country. And in any democracy, that should be a welcome development," he said.

At any rate, Suarez believes that "relations are strong" between the two co-equal legislative chambers.

"The House has always been open to discussions with our counterparts in the Senate," he said.

Related Tags

Charter change david Jay-jay suarez Nancy Binay bullying

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