Lawmakers on Monday rejected a call for President Marcos to intervene in persuading senators to support the economic amendments to the Constitution, deeming it unnecessary and an excessive demand on the Chief Executive.
“A call to the President asking him to convince senators further, I think, is a little bit too much on the President, given that the President has already mentioned it many times in many occasions, given that the President has stated his position on economic amendments that the country really needs economic Charter change,” Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. David Suarez said.
This as the House opened plenary debates on Resolution of Both House 7, which proposes specific amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
Suarez authored the measure along with Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. and House Majority Leader and Zamboanga Rep. Mannix Dalipe.
Gonzales, in his sponsorship message, declared that “now is the time to amend the Constitution’s restrictive economic provisions.”
He also made a last-ditch appeal to the Senate: “I appeal to my colleagues in the Senate: There will never be a better time than now to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.”
“Let us not fail the Filipino people once more. We, in the House of Representatives, have exhausted every step to help our nation. It is time to work collectively and in harmony toward Bagong Pilipinas,” he said.
Suarez was responding to a radio interview by Senator Sonny Angara, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on Resolution of Both Houses 6 (RBH 6), urging President Marcos to assist in convincing senators Angara recognized the difficulty of garnering the three-fourths majority or 18 signatures required to pass the resolution in the upper chamber.
The Deputy Speaker reiterated the urgency of economic amendments for the country’s progress, saying the need is evident and further persuasion should not be necessary.
He pointed out the declining educational and economic performance of Filipinos, affirming the pressing need for constitutional amendments.
“The writing is very clearly written on the wall,” Suarez stressed.
“What convincing do we still need here?”
Suarez acknowledged Angara’s position, but emphasized the House’s unwavering support for economic Charter amendments.
“We members of the House of Representatives, clearly from where we stand, the country needs it, the Filipino people need it, our economy needs it; and if you want to push the country forward, the next generation of Filipinos need it,” Suarez remarked.
For his part, 1-RIDER Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez underscored the clarity of the President’s stance during the Philippine Constitutional Day celebration organized by the Philippine Constitutional Association last month.