Press Release
January 15, 2021
Transcript of interview of Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III with Ms. Pinky Webb of The Source, CNN Philippines
On the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments convening into a constitutional assembly.
SP Sotto: I was informed that a House official, or their chairman of the Constitutional Amendments committee declared themselves already as a constituent assembly and of course, we in the Senate will definitely say that is not possible. For you to be able to conduct yourself or declare yourself as a constituent assembly, it is the Congress that has to do that and we are not in session, we are on recess. They will resume today, perhaps they can do that today, but definitely not in a committee and not during a recess, that is the point.
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“Considering the tight timeline, I call for an early approval of the amendments to these economic provisions by the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments chaired by (AKO-Bicol Party-List) Cong Pido Garbin so that this can be sent to the plenary of the House of Representatives,” Rodriguez said on Friday.
The Garbin panel began tackling Resolution of Both Houses 2 (RBH 2), which proposes amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution (particularly on Articles II, XIV and XVI) only last Wednesday.
Rodriguez chaired the Constitutional Amendments panel up until the time that Speaker Lord Allan Velasco designated him as one of his deputy speakers late last year.
Senate President Tito Sotto said Friday he is “not convinced” that the government needs charter change at the moment amid renewed talks on constitutional amendments.
Pass pending economic bills instead of Cha-Cha urges DTI Chief
January 15, 2021 | 7:34 pm
Deputy Speaker calls for early approval of economic amendments to Constitution
It would be better to pass pending economic reform measures instead of pushing for Charter Change (Cha-Cha), the Trade and Industry Secretary said on Friday, citing the limited time available to amend the 1987 Constitution.
The House of Representatives is currently conducting preliminary hearings on Resolution of Both Houses No. 2, which seeks to insert the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in the “restrictive” economic provisions of the Constitution. House Deputy Speaker Rufus B. Rodrigez, in a statement released Friday, said that lawmakers need to swiftly approve the amendments to the 1987 Constitution to ease foreign equity restrictions.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon renewed his call Thursday for the Senate and the public to be vigilant against fresh attempts to railroad efforts to amend the 1987 Constitution, saying he sees a sinister agenda behind a House panel’s attempt to bypass the Senate’s role in the proposed Charter