Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero (Senate PRIB Photo) 

Filipinos' majority support for economic Charter Change (Cha-cha) should be reason enough for the Senate under Senate President Francis Escudero to pass Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No.6 

Three high-ranking House of Representatives members made this call as they welcomed the Tangere survey results that indicated that 57 percent of Filipinos support the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution. 

Senior Deputy Speaker Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr., Deputy Speaker Quezon 2nd district Rep. David Suarez, and Majority Leader Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe said the survey “should prompt the new Senate leadership to pass the amendment proposals ASAP". 

Gonzales said the poll taken by big data research firm Tangere last May 21 to 25 showed “more than majority support for economic Charter amendments". 

“I think the Senate should listen to the people’s voice. New Senate President Francis Escudero should do what his predecessor failed to do, and they should do it as soon as possible,” he said. 

The House of Representatives had passed RBH No. 7, its version of economic Charter change, in March this year. The Senate version, RBH No. 6, is still pending at the subcommittee level. 

Gonzales said RBH No. 6 “is now in limbo in the wake of the recent Senate shake-up". He was referring to the recent ascension of Escudero as Senate President. 

According to Gonzales, thr public consultations the Senate subcommittee been conducting have been disrupted with the resignation of committee chairman Senator Juan Edgardo Angara. Amgara belongs to the bloc of Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who had resigned as Senate President. 

“We don’t know what will happen to RBH No. 6, since that resolution is authored by Senators Zubiri, Angara and [Senate President Pro Tempore] Loren Legarda, who has also resigned her Senate post,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Suarez said the Escudero leadership “should pick up the pieces from the recent Senate ruckus and work on the passage of RBH No.6 as early as possible". 

“So far, new Senate President Escudero has spoken on a lot of things, except the proposed economic constitutional amendments,” he said. 

For his part, Dalipe said the Senate can pass RBH No. 6 shortly after the convening of the third and last regular session of the 19th Congress in July. 

“But senators have to realize that the window of opportunity for them to approve economic Charter reforms is fast closing,” he said. 

He said lawmakers and the public would be on campaign-election mode once candidates file their certificates of candidacy (COCs) in October for the May 2025 elections. 

“We won’t be able to accomplish much after that. That’s the reality of this situation,” Dalipe added. 

The Tangere survey showed that support for economic Charter amendments increased by two percentage points from the previous month’s level. The survey had 1,500 participants nationwide.