Cha-cha not among Senate priority measures – Zubiri

MANILA, Philippines — The controversial Resolution of Both Houses 6 that proposes to amend the 1987 Constitution was not included in the Senate’s priority measures on the last stretch of the second regular session of the present Congress.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri yesterday said the Senate subcommittee headed by Sen. Sonny Angara will still have to conduct three more hearings for RBH6 pushing for the amendment of provisions on public service, education sector and the advertising industry.

Asked whether RHB6 was included in at least 20 priority bills listed under the Common Legislative Agenda of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (CLA-LEDAC), Zubiri said no.

“These are all legislations. We still have three more hearing in Baguio City, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro.”

Angara’s committee has so far conducted four public hearings on Feb 5, 12, 20 and March 5, which tackled the general provisions of the proposal to amend specific economic clauses of the Constitution. The first four public hearings were attended by legal luminaries, business executives and representatives from the education sector.

Zubiri said he was about to meet the 23 senators in a caucus to discuss the strategies of the Senate in effective and efficient tackling of the priority measures.

When asked whether the Senate would calendar and put Cha-cha to a vote to let the public know the respective positions of each senator, Zubiri said they would still discuss the matter in a caucus set today at the resumption of session.

Zubiri expressed confidence that the Senate will see the passage of priority bills listed under the CLA-LEDAC before the end of May when second regular session of the 19th Congress wraps up.

He added that the Senate has tabled for discussion the proposal to revive the Reserve Officers Training Corps with specialization. He said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has designed the proposed ROTC based on expertise.

“In the ROTC program, for example, those experts in computers, you will be in the anti-cyber hacking division of the reservist force. If you are engineers, they will assist the AFP engineering programs, while nursing students will be (deployed) to the medical corps,” he said.

“I’ve made a personal commitment to Sen. Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa to find out what vote. That has been pending with us for almost a year. Senator Bato is also really struggling with that,” Zubiri added, referring to the former police chief turned senator and advocate of ROTC revival.

Zubiri said “personally, I’m in favor of it as people who are against ROTC are afraid that hazing might be brought back (but) there is a very strong anti-hazing law, whether you are a fraternity or organization, if you hurt a child you will go to jail.”

The military and other uniformed personnel (MUP) pension scheme was also included in the priority measures.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense, spearheaded an investigation into the MUP pension system.

The inquiry aimed to address the need for reform, as former finance secretary Benjamin Diokno had warned of an impending “fiscal collapse” due to the escalating annual payouts to MUP. The current year’s pension payout stands at approximately P213 billion and is projected to reach the P1-trillion mark by 2035.

The MUP pension system encompasses members of various agencies, including the police, AFP, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Public Safety College, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Corrections and National Mapping and Resource Information Authority.

Estrada emphasized that the proposed reform seeks to strike a balance between the concerns of economic managers regarding tight fiscal limitations and the constitutional mandate of the military. The reform recognizes the unique nature of the work undertaken by uniformed personnel, who constantly face significant risks to their lives.