Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said he is ready to resign as leader of the Upper Chamber if political provisions of the Constitution are tinkered with once Charter change pushes through.
“I shall risk my leadership on that,” said Zubiri, who this week filed a resolution calling for a constituent assembly to amend only three economic provisions in the Constitution.
His assurance came as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it would compare signatures submitted in a people’s initiative to amend the Constitution more than 600 cities and municipalities with the records they have
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said they have received about 600 signature pages, but have yet to determine how many legislative districts are covered by the submissions.
“We will definitely look into each and every signature. Meaning we will have to compare the signatures to the records we have,” Garcia said.
Despite Zubiri’s assurances, Senator Risa Hontiveros warned her colleagues that the Cha-cha journey is “treacherous, divisive and unwise.”
“Why are we attempting to solve our economic problems by creating another problem?” she asked.
She said Cha-cha can be transformative, but not when it is triggered by multiple hidden agendas, power struggles, and in-group bickering.
“We need to build confidence in governance by eliminating corruption and improving our business environment, not by creating more instability through Cha-cha,” she said.
Besides, she said amending the Constitution to open more of the country’s crucial industries — like public utilities, education, and advertising — to 100 percent foreign ownership will only expose the country to security risks and weaken the national interests in a time of global unrest.
The proposal’s ultimate objective of stimulating and attracting more foreign investment is already addressed by present laws, she said.
She noted that the major part of the economy is already available for foreign participation, through legislation such as the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, Foreign Investments Act, and Public Service Act.
And yet, she said, this has created problems in companies such as the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), which is 40 percent owned by China.
“Let us not get distracted by the shiny allure of Cha-cha, when, beneath all the gloss, it will only trap us in a never-ending cycle of political maneuvering,” she said.
While proponents of the people’s initiative praised Zubiri’s Senate resolution, they said their effort through a signature campaign would continue.
Garcia said the next step after the submission of signature forms will be the issuance of certification to the proponent or the group that submitted the forms.
As stated in the 1987 Constitution, petitioners must collect signatures from at least 12 percent of the total number of registered voters, with each legislative district represented by at least 3 percent of its registered voters.
However, Garcia said that if even one of the 253 districts fails to get 3 percent of the registered voter, the petition will be dismissed.