SENATE President Francis Escudero yesterday said the upper chamber will not prioritize discussions on proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution, which he said “merely dissipate our energy and divide the public.”
In his speech during the opening of the Third Regular Session of the 19th Congress, Escudero said: “In this final regular session of the 19th Congress, following [the late President Manuel] Quezon’s advice, we will set aside items which merely dissipate our energy and divide the public… In its stead, bills which can effect the same results — but without the needless political noise and bickering — will be prioritized. This will allow us to focus our energy on measures which the people truly need.”
“For this same reason, pending bills on Charter change will be placed in the backburner and will follow the ordinary and regular process of legislation, if at all,” he added.
The Senate leader said tackling “divisive” bills, such as proposals to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution, diverts the senators’ focus in passing more important measures.
“We will tackle items in the common legislative agenda forged with the Executive, and those nurtured by both the House or the Senate. For legislation is not a one-way process.
We are not mere processors of proposal, but also proponents of them. And the Senate is best as we know when it incubates brave ideas and initiates bold legislation,” he said.
In a press conference after the session, Escudero said: “It’s (Charter change) not a priority for me and since it was not mentioned in the LEDAC, I don’t think it’s a priority of the LEDAC or the Executive either.”
He also said matters relating to Cha-cha will now be referred to the “mother committee,” which is the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes chaired by Sen. Robin Padilla.
Public consultations on proposed Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 (RBH 6), the Senate’s version of the economic Cha-cha bill, was previously discussed by the sub-committee chaired by former senator Juan Edgardo Angara, who is now the secretary of the Department of Education.
Escudero said sub-committees are formed if lawmakers want the immediate passage of a proposed measure, or if there are conflicts of interests with the committee chairman, like what he did when the proposed Mandatory Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) bill was referred to the Committee on Higher Education, which he formerly chaired.
Since he was opposed to the approval of the proposed bill, a sub-committee was created which was chaired by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa to discuss the measure.
‘HOUSE PET PROJECT’
In a chance interview, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said he would “like to see the reaction” of Speaker Martin Romualdez to Escudero’s declaration.
Zubiri noted that Cha-cha is one of Romualdez’s “pet” projects. “I mean, ‘yan ang utos dati ng administrasyon, ‘yung Cha-cha. So kami naman, we will try to comply as much as we can. Alam namin mahirap sa Senado, but I think now, the Senate President has just given it to rest. So, the ball is now in the Speaker’s court (I mean, that was an order which came from the administration, Cha-cha. So, we just tried to comply as much as we can. We know that it will be hard to pass in the Senate, but I think now, the Senate President has just laid it to rest. So, the ball is now in the Speaker’s court),” Zubiri said.
Padilla, in a chance interview, said he will continue holding committee hearings on Cha-cha bills.
“Gusto ko lang magkaroon ng debate kasi yan ang papel ng Kongreso, pag-debatehan ang mga bagay. Kapag hinarang ako, ‘yan ang masakit. Siya (Escudero) naman nagsabi kanina okay siya sa debate (I really want to hear debates on the issue since it is the role of Congress to debate on issues. Now, if I am told to stop, that will hurt me because he [Escudero] said he is okay with debates),” Padilla said.
Padilla said Cha-cha is not the main reason for the divisiveness among Filipino, saying that the geographical setup of the Philippines has caused the people to be divided.
“Huwag natin masyadong namnamin na dito sa Pilipinas magkakaroon tayo ng total unity.
Never. Sa salita pa lang di mangyayari. Sa language, culture, iba-iba (Let us not hope that there will be unity in the Philippines. Never, because we have different dialects. Also we have different cultures),” he added.
The Cha-cha issue has led to bickering between members of the Senate and the House, with senators pointing to congressmen as the main proponents of the People’s Initiative (PI) as the method to introduce amendments to the Charter.
Senators were particularly against the PI proposal for both houses of Congress to vote jointly to either approve or reject proposed revisions to the Charter.
When President Marcos Jr. rejected the PI move and ordered the Senate to lead economic Cha-cha efforts, Zubiri, who was then the Senate President, filed RBBH 6 and referred it to the Angara-led subcommittee. A counterpart version, RBH 7, was subsequently filed and approved at the House.
The Angara panel suspended its public hearings on RBH 6 after Zubiri was ousted as Senate leader on May 20.
DIVORCE, DEATH PENALTY
Aside from Cha-cha measures, Escudero said the Senate will also not prioritize the approval of proposals seeking to legalize divorce and bring back the death penalty.
“But it does not necessarily mean that it will not be tackled,” he clarified, saying: “It will pass through the committee process. Let it be taken up in the regular committee.”
In his speech at the resumption of sessions, Escudero said the senators’ actions should be guided by the principle of making the peoples’ lives easier and crafting measures that will help the country move faster, and make the peoples’ burden lighter.
“For me, the foremost task of senators is to be the Chief Common-Sense Officers of the government. For common sense, for me, is what would bring ease to the lives of our countrymen,” he said.
He urged his colleagues to live by the words of the late President Manuel L. Quezon, during the latter’s acceptance speech as Senate president on October 16, 1916, that the upper chamber has “four distinct roles.”
He said the Senate should be a chamber of “sobriety and prudence” by tempering the passions of public opinion, and “proceed in a rational and deliberate manner.”
“We do not immediately embrace populism that may ultimately harm the people,” he added.
Escudero said the Senate should focus on crafting “quality” legislations rather than “quantity,” as he reminded his colleagues that “we legislate only if those existing are no longer sufficient, or if no other solution suffices.”
“This is not a factory that mass produces laws for the sake of showing them to the scoreboard, yet do not, in any way, improve people’s lives,” he said.
NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
Escudero said the Senate is committed to protecting national interests, but at the same time maintaining strong ties with its neighbors.
“Make no mistake about it: The Senate is unanimous and unbending in defending the country’s independence and sovereignty… tayo’y makikipagkaibigan pero hindi tayo papasiil. Tayo’y makikipag-usap pero hindi tayo magpapa-api (We will make friends but will not be oppressed. We will engage in talks, but we will not let them bully us),” he said.
The Senate leader said he believes that the conflict with China in the West Philippine Sea will soon be peacefully resolved due to the longstanding relationship between the two countries.
“Indeed, we must work towards bridging these troubled waters… I am confident that we shall overcome whatever disagreements we may have with any of our neighbors, given centuries-old amicable relations with them, where this point in time in our current history, to me, is a mere speck,” he said.
He said the Senate will prioritize laws, such as the proposed Philippine Maritime Zones and Sea Lanes Act, which seek to strengthen the country’s territorial claims.
The measure has already been passed by the bicameral conference committee last week and is now waiting for the President’s signature.
Escudero also stressed the importance of upgrading the country’s military “not to ignite any conflict, but in order to secure peace.”
THURSDAY SESSIONS
Escudero said he will propose to his colleagues that they hold sessions even on Thursdays so they can pass important legislations before the campaign period for the 2025 midterm elections start.
There are seven senators who are expected to seek re-election — Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Ronald dela Rosa, Francis Tolentino, Christopher Go, Pia Cayetano, Imee Marcos, and Manuel “Lito” Lapid.
Escudero said he believes that the seven re-electionists will still attend the regular sessions religiously, but their legislative calendar would give them a tight schedule.
“Because it’s only three days in a week until September 28, (then) a month recess and resume again before the (Christmas) break. Next year, we only have, I think, five weeks’ worth of sessions to pave the way for the respective campaigns of our colleagues,” he said.
“In total, we will have 70 session days and if we are able to muster Thursday session days, then that will add another 23 (days),” he added.
He said most of the senators are “amenable” to his proposal.
“We will be proposing it, but we have discussed it initially with the members. But we will be proposing it formally within this week,” he said.
He said there will be no problem having sessions on Thursdays since all the Senate will have to do is to declare a suspension of sessions on Wednesdays “with the theoretical quorum that existed the day before.”
“The House also usually does that when I was still a member of the House decades ago,” he also said.
RESOLUTIONS
During the opening of the regular session, the Senate adopted four resolutions.
The first resolution was Senate Resolution No. (SRN) 1061 and 1062 informing the House and the President, respectively, that a quorum was present in the Senate and that it has entered upon the exercise of its functions for the Third Regular Session of the 19th Congress.
Senate majority leader Francis Tolentino also informed the upper chamber on the receipt of House Concurrent Resolution No. 27 providing that the Senate and the House hold a joint session to hear the President’s SONA.
The last resolution was Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 19 creating a joint committee of the Senate and the House to notify the President that Congress, has convened for the Third Regular Session of the 19th Congress, and was ready to hear his annual report to the public.
INDEPENDENT BLOC
Zubiri said he and the five senators who remained loyal to him after his ouster as Senate leader will form an independent bloc but will remain as members of the majority bloc.
“We remain to stay together. We remain to be, of course, a working bloc in the Senate. But also, we’ll be an independent bloc in the Senate, but part of the majority. Hindi naman po kami magma-minority, hindi naman kami mag-o-opposition so we can help where we can help (We will not be joining the minority bloc, and we will not be the opposition. We will help where we can help),” Zubiri said.
Zubiri said that he and senators Joel Villanueva, Nancy Binay, Loren Legarda, Joseph Victor Ejercito, and, Sherwin Gatchalian opted to stay together since they have been “seatmates” since the 17th and 18th Congress.
Escudero reacted: “Whether they are in majority or the minority, they can vote which every way they want, and you’ve seen it. You’ve seen members of the minority support an administration and vote for an administration bill. You’ve seen members of the majority vote against an administration bill.”
“So, to my mind that is irrelevant because as I said, each and every member of the Senate, all 23 of us, now have their own respective principles and beliefs and will vote according to what they believe regardless of the branding of media or anyone else would like to make,” he added.
Zubiri said they will hold a caucus today so he and the other five senators can be given committee memberships.
“So, we’re one-fourth of the Senate… We’re requesting sana in the committees, dapat one-fourth of the committee memberships would be given to our bloc as well. Yan ang napakahalaga. Imposible naman na hindi kami bigyan ng membership. Remember, that we are ex-official members before. Ako, walang membership in any committee. That means now, Senator JV, myself, Joel Villanueva, and Ma’am Loren have no committee memberships (So, we’re one-fourth of the Senate… We’re requesting that maybe in the committees, one-fourth of the committee memberships would be given to our bloc. That is important. It would be impossible if they would not give us membership in any committee.
That means that senators JV [Ejercito], myself, Joel Villanueva, and Ma’am Loren Legarda have no committee memberships),” he said.
“So, if there are 10 members in one committee, at least one-fourth of that should come from us,” he also said.
Gatchalian said their group will be “temporarily” known as the “Six Bomb.”
“We will support legislations na makakatulong sa ating bansa but importante make agencies accountable also dahil importante ang accountability (We will support legislations that will help our country, but it is important to make agencies accountable because accountability is important),” Gatchalian said.