MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri revealed yesterday that Charter change – something President Marcos said the other day is not a priority of his administration – is also not in the agenda of the Senate.
“Cha-cha was never really in our agenda,” said Zubiri, noting that senators support the pronouncement of Marcos that the country’s problems can be addressed without changing the Constitution.
While acknowledging that Sen. Robinhood Padilla has been pushing to amend the Charter, Zubiri said: “About 20 legislative priorities were discussed at the LEDAC (Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council) and Cha-cha was not included.”
Among these priority bills in the Senate are the Maharlika Investment Fund and the mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) bills by June and amendments to the Built-Operate-Transfer law and/or the Public-Private Partnership bill.
Health measures are also a priority – the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control bill, the Virology Institution of the Philippines Creation bill and the Medical Reserve Corps bill.
Rounding off the 12 priority bills are the Condonation of Unpaid Amortization and Interests of Loans of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries bill, the Internet Transactions Act of 2022, the Armed Forces of the Philippines Fixed-Term bill, the Salt Industry Development bill and National Employment Action Plan and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The Senate President said Padilla can still prioritize the matter, but many senators have already agreed to prioritize measures laid out in the LEDAC and there are some who are not ready to talk about Cha-cha.
“I’m not saying it’s (Cha-cha) dead. Senator Padilla can continue the discussion on Chacha but it would remain as a committee report,” said Zubiri.
He said other senators will not stop Padilla from pushing for Cha-cha, “because that is his job.”
“So, let him do his job. But when it comes to the plenary, we will give priority to the pending 19 priority measures,” Zubiri said partly in Filipino.
Sen. Grace Poe believes Marcos’ pronouncement that Cha-cha is not a priority will affect the consensus on the need to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Returning from his official visit in Japan over the weekend, Marcos made the remark as he expressed confidence in attracting foreign investments even without changing the Constitution, which his allies in the House of Representatives say contains restrictive economic provisions.
“If the President does not support (Cha-cha), Congress will prioritize those on the priority list such as the Internet Transactions Act or the CDC bill,” Poe, speaking in Filipino, said.
“Maybe while the congressmen listen to the issue of Charter change in their public consultations, it is good to mention that there are new laws that refer to foreign investments themselves. We have just passed Amendments on the Public Service Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Act and Foreign Investments Act,” she added.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III also agrees with Marcos that foreign investments will trickle in even without Cha-cha, but stressed the future need to revisit political provisions in the Charter to improve the country’s system of governance.
“The proposal to change the economic provisions of the Constitution is not urgent at all as we have passed some economic liberalization laws,” he said.
However, the former Senate president still believes that there is a need to revise the political provisions of the Constitution and reform the system of governance to, among others, reform the party-list system and provide more safeguards against political dynasties.
Pimentel has long advocated a shift in the country’s form of government to parliamentary with a unicameral legislature.
“The long-standing proposal to reform the country’s political system can wait in favor of more pressing issues,” he said.
For his part, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said: “As a Christian, I believe that the only thing that should not be amended is the Bible, any other law is not perfect because man made them.”
“Timing is very important. If the President feels that there are many aspects that can be changed in Constitution… If the President feels it’s not possible now, even if I like that, let’s take it slowly. Let’s prioritize improving the economy. In Constitution, there are many things that need to be changed,” Cayetano said.
‘Drop Cha-cha’
In the House, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, taking a cue from the President’s remarks, called on its proponents to drop the issue of amending the Constitution in favor of addressing “immediate needs of the people.”
“The proponents of Cha-cha are just wasting money, time and resources because right now, the Filipino people do not need them,” Castro said in a statement.
She said that what the people want now is for lower prices of commodities, fuel, water and electricity and to have better jobs that pay well.
On the other hand, farmers are longing for adequate government support for their crops and farmlands, she added.
Opposition lawmaker Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, for his part, expressed hope that the President will “remain steadfast in his position” that Cha-cha is not his administration’s priority agenda.
“I agree with the President that foreign investments will come, as they presently do, even without amending the Constitution’s economic provisions,” Lagman, president of the Liberal Party, said.
He underscored that Cha-cha is “not timely as we have to devote our full efforts and resources to address mounting economic woes on inflation, poverty, and food security, among others.”
Hearings to continue
Yesterday, Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. LRay Villafuerte said marathon hearings on Cha-cha will continue even if Marcos had already declared that it is not among his priorities.
Villafuerte, an ally of the President and member of the supermajority in the House, even pressed on removing constitutional provisions on holding elections every three years, calling the political exercise a bane on the country’s progress.
“We are the only country which has elections every three years. Our investment climate and the instability we have is always political. I think we should have less elections,” said Villafuerte, author of House Bill 4926 (Constitutional Convention Act).
He stresssed that foreign investors are always bothered by the instability brought about by domestic politics, particularly the holding of elections every three years for congressmen, governors, mayors and municipal councilors.
“Our problem is basically poverty. We need to create jobs and in order to create jobs, we need foreign investments, foreign capital. If we love our country, we should push for Charter change,” Villafuerte said in an interview with ANC. – Sheila Crisostomo, Delon Porcalla