Cha-cha up for joint voting by the Senate and House

Manila, Philippines---The House of Representatives is three days away from deliberating on the buffering of Charter change (Cha-cha),--- and a presumed voting will be conducted, to know if this resolution is worth the shot.

House Speaker Prospero Nograles on Friday stated that aside from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) extension and right of reply bills, House resolutions 737 and 1109 will be debated at the plenary before Congress resumes on June 3.

House committee on constitutional amendments chair La Union Rep. Victor Ortega said that he confirmed the House Resolution 1109 (HR1109) last Friday to the rules committee. It seeks to call for the Congress into a constituent assembly and propose changes to the 1987 charter through a three-fourths vote of both houses polling jointly.

The jointed voting means that 270-member House of Representatives can propose and ink charter changes even without one Senator from the 23-member Senate participating in the said session.

HR 1109 headed by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, where he recently reverted his signature because of a petty fight with Nograles. Amidst that Villafuerte dropped his appeal for Cha-cha, the supporters of the administration are still pushing for the said resolution.

Another Charter change measure, Nograles’ HR 737, seeks to relive the ‘exploitation of the country’s natural resources to corporations even if they are fully owned by foreigners’ ---where the resolution allows selling of RP land to foreigners.

HR 737 wants to change the 1987 constitution through the normal legislative ply, which means that after the House inks it, the Senate will have to make their own version ,---- if the single version would be agreed upon ( by the Senate and the House) in a bicameral conference committee, and then it could be inked by the President to be a law.

Villafuerte stated that this ‘Charter change mode is unconstitutional.’

"HR 737 is taking the legislative mode," said Nograles, the author of the resolution. "According to HR 1109, it's wrong [to do that]. Let's discuss it at the same time because they are connected," he stated.

Liberal Party's Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas earlier laid down before the committee on constitutional amendments a motion to reconsider the 19-6 vote sending HR 1109 to the plenary.

This motion would have required the committee to set another probe on the resolution before it could head to the plenary.

Mandanas stated that he was actuated by Ortega to halt his motion.

Paula Isaiah L. Panganiban