Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara on Thursday, February 8 expressed his disappointment over the apparent harassment exhibited by some lawmakers at the House of Representatives, who are pushing for Charter change via the People’s Initiative (PI) mode, against the Senate.

Angara pointed this out as he defended himself and his colleagues’ continuous attempts to dodge and respectfully respond to the challenges and verbal attacks that their counterparts in the Lower House have been issuing since the Senate has made known its stand against the ongoing PI signature campaign.

“Ilan na bang (press conference)? Parang Jimmy Santos lang, I love you three times a day. Ilang beses nagpa-presscon? Kami, wala kaming oras para magpa-presscon araw-araw sa totoo lang. Marami kaming trabaho (How many press conferences have they conducted? On our part, we don’t have the time to hold press conference everyday, for real. We have so many work to do),” Angara said during a Kapihan sa Senado forum.

Angara, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes tackling the Resolution of Both Houses No. 6, which seeks to amend three economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution, said that while the Senate is doing its best to rise above any heated political discourse, it also needs to defend itself against any external attacks to maintain its authority.

“I think it will help going forward pero kapag kailangan naman di pwedeng di kami sumagot (but if there’s a need, there’s no reason for us not to respond). Self defense lang yun (That’s self defense). That’s why, it’s the inherent right of any individual or any institution to defend themselves. Di ba, pag binu-bully ka hindi ka sasagot? Di naman pwede yun (If you’re being bullied, you won’t answer? That’s not right),” Angara pointed out.

Asked categorically if he believes the Senate is now being bullied by the House, the lawmaker replied in the affirmative.

“Oo, parang ganun yun eh. Parang ganun ang lumalabas biro mo araw-araw di ba parang bullying yun? Pumunta ka sa cr, tapos andun na naman yung bully, o andito ka na naman? Di ba? Pupunta ka ng cafeteria, andito ka na naman (Yes, it’s like that. It appears to me to be like that because they do it everyday, so isn’t that bullying? Like you go to the restroom, and you find the bully there, are you here again? You go to the cafeteria, and you see them again),” the lawmaker lamented.

Angara even pointed out he is one of the authors of the Anti-Bullying Act but lamented that that cannot be implemented among lawmakers. 

“Di ba parang inaaraw-araw kami? Parang guys mag time out, time out…Mag trabaho muna tayo dito di ba? (Aren’t they attacking us almost everyday? I wish I can say guys, time out, time out please…can’t we just buckle down to work first, right)?” he added.

At this, Angara said he hopes that lawmakers in the House would come clean about their real reason in pushing for the PI, noting they initially denied being behind the drive.

But he also hopes that President Marcos himself would give the clear signal that the initiative is already dead in the water so as to stop the impasse especially between the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“Malaking bagay yun sa palagay ko. Kasi signal din yun sa baba eh. Signal sa Kamara, signal sa mga mayor, syempre yung mga mayor, kakampi din ng mga congressman yan, mga governor (That's a big thing in my opinion. Because that's also a signal from the bottom. A signal to the House, a signal to the mayors, of course the mayors, because those are also allies of the congressmen, governors),” he said.

“Pwede nya sabihin tama na, dito na tayo sa economic Chacha. Eh tinatago pa kasi e, so ano yung totoo? Pero minsan lumalabas din d ba? Tulad ng sabi ng isang congressman, na eh di mag pi PI na lang kami. Pero teka, akala ko ba wala kayong kinalaman sa PI? Eh bakit iraratsada nyo na? He can say it's let’s stop, we're now tackling economic Chacha, But it's still being hidden, so what's the truth? But sometimes the truth also comes out, doesn't it? As one congressman said, we will just pursue PI…But wait, I thought you had nothing to do with PI? Why are you going to rush it)?” he recalled.

“Tapos sinasabi din (nila) pag usapan natin yung political, sige pag usapan natin yun pero bakit voting jointly ang nilagay ninyo? Eh political (amendments) pala gusto nyo. Magtapat tayo sa taombayan, respetuhin natin ang proseso (Then they will also say we talk about politics; okay let's talk about it, but why did you put voting jointly? Well, you’re after political (amendments) after all. Let's be honest with the people, let's respect the process," Angara appealed.