Says chances of revising Charter slim
CHANCES that proposed economic amendments to the 1987 Constitution will be approved in the Senate have gotten slim, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said yesterday as he bared that at least eight senators are opposed to Charter change.
In an interview with radio dwPM, Zubiri said minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III, deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros, and Senators Cynthia Villar, Imee Marcos, and Francis Escudero have openly stated their opposition to Cha-cha.
He said three to four more senators, whom he refused to identify, have also indicated during their caucuses that they were against moves to revise the Charter.
“Meron pa akong apat na nakikita na ayaw din po nila. Hindi ko lang babanggitin kasi I’m not at liberty. They have not spoken in public but they’ve been very vocal within, sa amin, doon sa (mga) caucus, against sila. So lima na po ‘yan and then there’s about four more.
So, lusaw na po ‘yung aming 18 votes para maipasa ‘yan (I see four more senators who are against Cha-cha. I will not mention their names because I’m not at liberty. They have not spoken in public but they’ve been very vocal during our caucuses. So, that’s already five [Pimentel, Hontiveros, Cynthia Villar, Marcos, and Escudero], and then there’s about four more. So, we no longer have 18 votes [to approve Cha-cha]),” Zubiri said.
With Congress resuming its sessions today, the Senate subcommittee of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments is set to start anew its discussions on the proposed Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6, which seeks to revise three economic provisions of the Constitution.
Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara has said that Cha-cha discussions at the subcommittee level will continue after the lawmakers’ summer break, which started last March. He has previously said that the proposed amendments would likely be submitted for plenary debates by October this year before the upper chamber starts deliberating on the 2025 national budget.
Zubiri said only three more public hearings will be held before the sub-committee wraps up its discussions and submit its committee report.
The House of Representatives, which has been pressing the Senate to hasten it Cha-cha discussions, has approved RBH No. 7, its version of the Senate’s RBH No. 6.
Senate majority leader Joel Villanueva has said in a previous media interview that he has yet to be convinced of the necessity of amending the Constitution, saying that foreign direct investments can enter the country once the ease of doing business is strictly implemented.
Senators Joseph Victor Ejercito and Nancy Binay have likewise previously said in past media interviews they were against Cha-cha.
Zubiri has said that getting a majority of the senators to vote in favor of Cha-cha will be a big challenge after a survey conducted by Pulse Asia last March showed that 88 percent of Filipinos are against Charter change.
POLITICAL CHA-CHA
Sen. Robin Padilla has filed Resolution of Both Houses No. 5 seeking to introduce political amendments to the Charter, specifically the lifting of the term limits of elected public officials. Padilla conducted a hearing on it last week.
Zubiri said it is Padilla’s right to discuss RBH 5 in a public hearing, but doubts if RBH No. 5 will get the approval of the senators since it involves amendments to political provisions of the Constitution.
“Pero practicality-wise, hirap na hirap nga ako kumuha ng boto para sa economic provisions lang, eh sa political pa, di ba? I’m being practical about it…To be honest, we don’t have the 18 votes as of now for the economic provisions alone. Dadagdagan mo pa ‘yan ng political provisions na napaka-unpopular sa ating mga kababayan…I doubt if we can even get, if we can muster half the Senate to agree to political provisions. So kung ganoon, it will be lost, of course, in a vote with the senators and even support of the senators (Practicality-wise, I am finding it hard to get the needed votes for economic Cha-cha, how much more the proposed political provisions? I’m being practical about it…To be honest, we don’t have the 18 votes as of now for the economic provisions alone and then you will add the political provisions which is very unpopular among our countrymen. I doubt if we can even get, we can muster half the Senate to agree to political provisions. So, if that’s the case, it will be lost, of course, in a vote with the senators and even support of the senators),” he said.
Zubir said his office will tap the Social Weather Stations to conduct another survey to feel the people’s pulse on Cha-cha to be used as an additional basis for the upper chamber to vote on it.
He said he would pay for the survey using his personal funds.
“Para ma-guide po tayo nang maayos. For example, okay ba sila na magkaroon ng foreign ownership in, 100 percent foreign ownership in advertising? In education? Yun ang napakahalaga, mabigyan tayo ng guide dito sa mga survey na ito. But at the same time, we have to make a decision as a legislative body kaya hinihintay na lang po namin ‘yung committee report ni Sen. Angara, and we will discuss as a group, in an all-member caucus on how to proceed from there (So we can be properly guided. For example, will the people agree to 100 percent ownership in advertising? In education? These are important things that can guide us. But at the same time, we have to make a decision as a legislative body.
We are waiting for the committee report from Sen. Angara and we will discuss this as a group, in an all-member caucus on how to proceed from there),” he said.
2025 POLLS
Zubiri said they will also resolve two concerns from the senators in relation to the approval of RBH 6.
“There are two trains of thoughts kasi. Yung iba gusto nila sige pagbotohan na lang natin ito para magka-alaman. May iba naman nagsasabi na kung wala naman tayong boto eh bakit pa tayo boboto, di ba? (There are those who say that we might as well vote on it, while the others said there is no need to vote if they do not have the numbers),” he said.
He said if RBH 6 is not approved in the Senate, the administration can make this a “political issue” by telling the voters that it will support candidates in next year’s midterm polls who are pro Cha-cha.
“The administration can say we will support pro-Cha-cha candidates. Kasi kung may 12 na pro-Cha-cha na maipanalo ng administration (If there are 12 pro-Cha-cha senators who will win in the 2025 elections), that’s an additional 12 votes coming into the 2025 elections,” he said.
He added: “So, I would suggest, if we cannot convince them persuasively in the next few months, kasi papunta na rin tayo ng preparations for the 2025 elections, then I would suggest the next step for the administration to do is if they are really pushing for a pro constitutional reform stand, then pagdating sa 2025, yung itutulak nilang mag kandidato ay pro Charter change. Then bahala na ang tao kung boboto ba sila ng senador na ganoon (So, I would suggest, if we cannot convince them persuasively in the next few months, because we are heading for the preparation for the 2025 elections, then I would suggest the next step for the administration to do is, if they are really pushing for a pro Constitutional reform stand, then it should support candidates who are pro Charter change then just let the people decide if they will vote for them).”
