The leadership change in the Senate may be good for the proposed amendment of the Constitution’s restrictive economic provisions, according to Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.
“The issue of Cha-cha in Congress is already done, and I have said my piece then and it’s always possible that a change of leadership will also enhance the chances of Charter change (Cha-cha),” he said, in response to a reporter’s query during a recent press conference after the House of Representatives approved the divorce bill.
“But let us wait and see. Let the development unfold in the Senate because the House has already approved the Cha-cha resolution,” he said.
He was referring to Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7, the House version of the proposed economic constitutional amendments.
The Senate version, RBH No. 6, authored by former Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Loren Legarda and Juan Edgardo Angara, is still pending in the Senate.
Zubiri stepped down as Senate president and was replaced by Senator Francis Escudero.
Angara resigned as chairman of the special subcommittee hearing RBH No. 6.
On the issue of joint or separate voting on proposed Charter change, Lagman said, “That issue is not resolved in the Constitution. The Constitution is ambiguous. It is possible that issue of joint or separate voting will go to the Supreme Court for a final decision.”
He said the House of Representatives and the Senate have different tasks under the Constitution as a legislature and as a constituent assembly with the power to propose any constitutional amendment.
“The work of Congress is different. Because in Congress, we legislate the law. It is also a different job of the constituent assembly to propose amendments to the Constitution. That’s where we can see the difference. Whether it is joint or separate, I think the debate among us will never end. Our senators and congressmen may reach the Supreme Court,” he said.
But in a forum held in San Juan City last March, Lagman expressed the view that the two chambers of Congress have to meet jointly and vote jointly or as one body on Cha-cha.
“They are not making laws, they are exercising constituent powers, the amendment of the Constitution. Today, meeting jointly. Voting jointly or separately? That is a big question that needs to be resolved by the Supreme Court," he said.
“But in my opinion – without any partisanship on the results of voting jointly – I think it is voting jointly because the constituent assembly is unicameral, there is no senator, no congressman, no representative, no Senate," he added.