CAMARINES Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte yesterday urged the leaderships of the Senate and the House of Representatives to settle their dispute by compromising and setting a deadline for the approval of proposed Resolution of Both Houses No. 6.
“We’re appealing for the March deadline, but now (the Senate) they are saying October. Maybe we can meet in the middle ground. That’s part of the democratic process,” said Villafuerte, president of the National Unity Party (NUP).
The word war between the Senate and the House got worse after senators said they would not be rushed to approve RBH No. 6 despite Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri’s earlier vow to have the measure 6 approved by next month.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, who leads a sub-committee tasked to hear RBH No. 6, has said the “latest” that the Senate can approve the resolution will be in October which will coincide with the Comelec’s “peak” preparations for the midterm elections in 2025.
“The sooner we can pass a final version of RHB 6, the sooner we can conduct a plebiscite on the would-be proposed constitutional amendments. But, you know, that’s our opinion. But if the Senate thinks otherwise, we respect that. If the would-be proposed amendments are not passed, we will respect that, too,” said Villafuerte.
The administration lawmaker said the “people will suffer if constitutional reform doesn’t happen.” “If you look at the facts, within Southeast Asia, we have the lowest FDI inflows. Vietnam has overtaken us. Do we wait for Burma, Cambodia, Laos to overtake us?” he said.
Villafuerte however said having Charter change in the forefront of the national discussion is good “and the Senate’s discussion on RBH 6, for us, that’s a positive development.”
Other House leaders said the House and the Senate are now in a “constructive phase” after President Marcos Jr.’s speech last Thursday on the urgency to amend the “restrictive” economic provisions of the Constitution.
“This is the discussion. This is what the President said when he said there should be a healthy discussion on the amendments to the economic provisions. The Senate is already hearing it now and we hope this finally aligns with what we’re saying here so we could have our dream Charter change on economic provisions,” Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales of Pampanga said in Filipino in a joint press conference with other House leaders.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said the “House will follow the President, period.” “So let there be no ambiguity about it, of the direction of the House, of what the House will do. We will follow the President in his latest speech,” he said.
He said the President’s instruction also meant that the parallel people’s initiative (PI) campaign should be set aside for now so that Congress can focus on economic Cha-cha.
“So, ibig sabihin niyan tigil na muna ang PI para mawala po ‘yung duda na mahaluan ng politika, kase klaro namang sinabi ni Presidente, ‘Hoy! hanggang economics lang kayo’ (So that means PI should stop first to remove suspicions and avoid politicizing the issue because what the President said was clear, “Hey! You’re only limited to economics),” Salceda said.
Salceda said this means “we are getting through a more constructive process in the relationship between the House and the Senate, although there are complications because of concerns that it might take too long (in the Senate).”
“For the president to come out in support of the Charter change despite his usual reservation on such matters, clearly shows that he sees this as urgent and of the highest national interest. This is the first time that he has deviated from that position. If you look back since he ascended, or during the campaign, hindi po ito naging issue nuong 2022 election,” he told the press conference.
Asked if he thinks the President wants a timeline for the Senate’s approval of RBH No. 6, Salceda said: “I cannot speak for the President, but I can speak of his style based on my experience.”
He recalled that during the deliberations on the then proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), the President and the House gave him, as head of the technical working group, “unlimited leeway to listen to stakeholders and to institute safeguards and refinements to the measure.”
“The President also allowed vigorous debate on the matter and did not weigh in on the details, just on the principle and the schedule. So, I think the style will be the same here. He will encourage vigorous debate on the details but will strongly support the principle of economic amendments as well as the timeline for getting it done,” he said.
Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, a senior vice chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, echoed the President’s call for a “healthy and democratic debate on the need to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution.”
Both Quimbo and Salceda highlighted the potential benefits of economic constitutional reforms, including job creation, higher wages, and increased productivity.
“Our pursuit of economic liberalization to date has been cautious and incremental. But the evidence before us calls for a decisive shift,” said the lawmaker, who is an economist like Salceda.
‘NO BULLYING’
In the same press conference, Deputy Speaker David Suarez denied Sen. Nancy Binay’s claim that congressmen are “bullying” senators.
“Wala namang bullying na nangyayari (No bullying is happening). I think what the Senate is seeing is that the House is more vocal when it comes to national issues,” Suarez said. “The House is more vocal about issues close to their heart. The House is reacting to what is happening in our country. And in any democracy, that should be a welcome development.”
The Quezon lawmaker said House members are now more vocal and aggressive and no longer the type to wait on the sidelines and just follow the lead of the senators.
“I think what the Senate is realizing now is we have a House of Representatives that is more vocal,” Suarez said. “Kasi dati, nag-aantay lang kami kung ano gagawin ng Senate, nag-aantay kami, tahimik, kung ano magiging development (We used to just wait what the Senate will do, we just wait, silently, on what will be the developments but right now, you see the aggressiveness of members of the House when it comes to tackling national issues.”
Quimbo said “parliamentary peace” between the Senate and the House will be difficult to achieve if the Senate will continue its investigation on the PI, especially when senators attack Speaker Martin Romualdez who is the House’s “padre de familia” or head of the family.
“Ang problema kasi, pag may mga inquiries sa Senado na nakaka-apekto dito po sa pag-achieve natin ng peace (The problem is when there’s an inquiry in the Senate, it affects our achievement of peace), that doesn’t help. Especially pag naa-atake si Speaker. Siya po ang padre de pamilya namin (Especially when the Speaker is attacked). He takes care of us. We need to also take care of him,” she said.
Quimbo was referring to the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation chaired by Sen. Imee Marcos, the President’s older sister and a first cousin of the Speaker.
“So doon din po kami nanggagaling. But enough said. We will stick to healthy and democratic debate, as instructed by the President … That’s the kind of environment we seek to foster, one of healthy and democratic (debate),” Quimbo said.
Quimbo also echoed the statements of Suarez, saying members of the House are “peace-loving” people, but they cannot keep silent on important matters such as their position on amending the economic provisions of the Constitution.
“Una sa lahat, happy Valentine’s, Sen. Nancy at sa lahat ng mga senators (First of all, happy Valentine’s, Sen. Nancy and all senators,” she said. “I think lahat naman tayo dito ay peace-loving people, gusto naman talaga natin ‘yan (We’re all peace-loving people here and that’s what we really want).”
For his part, Gonzales hit back at senators for calling PI, “pekeng initiative.” “Insulto po sa mga taongbayan kapag sinabi mong pekeng inisyatibo. (It’s an insult to the people when you say it’s a fake initiative,” he said.
‘LIES’
Senate majority leader Joel yesterday lashed at his critics for concocting lies to besmirch his name as the upper chamber traded barbs with the House regarding the PI issue.
In a privilege speech, Villanueva said he cannot let the “below the belt” criticisms of certain individuals on him and on the Senate as an institution go unnoticed since all of the accusations were malicious and were just intended to malign them.
“Ginoong Pangulo, mayroon pong naninira, pilit binabagsak at inaalipusta ang mga miyembro ng Senado maging ang ating minamahal na institusyon (Mr. President, there are people who are maligning us, while trying to pull us down and insulting the members of the Senate and the Senate as an institution),” Villanueva said.
He said the chairman of the “powerful” House Committee on Appropriations has alleged that he has a pending case before the Ombudsman, and that he was belittling party-list groups.
Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Villanueva said the supposed case against him before the Ombudsman stemmed from a letter allegedly from the Buhay party-list on his alleged involvement in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam. The National Bureau of Investigation has supposedly determined that the letter was forged.
He also denied belittling party-list groups, saying some of the members of these groups are his close friends and some were his mentors when he was still a member of the lower chamber.
Villanueva said he has documents to prove that the person who is maligning him has interests in a private company which figured in controversies like the Pharmally scandal, and the controversial laptop deals of the Department of Education (DepEd).
The Senate and the House has been engaged in a verbal tussle after the upper chamber accused the lower chamber of supporting what they called the “fake” PI.
Co last week asked Villanueva to refrain from acting “sanctimonious” as the senator was supposedly linked to the PDAF scam of Janet Lim Napoles.
Co also alleged that Villanueva has been disqualified from holding public office following the decision of the Ombudsman “but it seems he was able to appeal the case. But we know he was linked to Napoles.”
Villanueva said the true issue at hand is the PI signature campaign, that when approved, will take away the Senate’s role in approving the amendments to the Charter as both chambers will “vote jointly.”
“Mr. President, may nanununog po ng bahay pero nang mahuli natin sila, sa halip na magpakumbaba at aminin ang mali, sila pa ang galit. Ayaw umamin sa kasalanan, sa halip, tumitira ng below the belt at mayabang daw tayo (Mr. President, someone’s trying to burn the house down but when we caught them, instead of being humble and admit to their wrongdoing, they got angry. They do not want to own up to their sins, and worse, they are hitting us below the belt, accusing us of being obnoxious),” he said.
He said the “fake” PI should once and for all be stopped and it is time for the Senate to buckle up for work. — With Raymond Africa