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By Meanne Corvera Eagle News Service Commission on Elections Acting Chair Christian Robert Lim on Thursday said the plebiscite for Charter Change can no longer be held in time for the midterm elections in 2019 even if amendments to the Constitution are approved by the two houses of Congress this year. According to Lim, Congress has not allotted a budget for preparations for the plebiscite–where Filipino voters will be asked whether they accept federalism or […]
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed the members to the consultative committee that will review the 1987 Constitution. Appointed as chair of the committee was former Chief Justice Reynato Puno. The members of the committee are former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Victor De la Serna, Ranhilio Aquino, Virgilio Bautista, Rodolfo Robles, Antonio Nachura, Julio Teehankee, Bienvenido Reyes, Eddie Alih and Edmund Tayao. Also appointed as members were Ali Pangalian Balindong, Laurence Wacnang, Roan Libarios, Reuben Canoy, […]
Structure of gov’t now up for discussion; discussion on manner of voting amendments put on hold (Eagle News) — The Senate and the House of Representatives have apparently found a way to move forward with Charter Change. This was after the Senate President Koko Pimentel and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez agreed to “shift the focus” of discussion from the manner of voting proposed amendments to the Constitution to other issues. Both Pimentel and Alvarez […]
(Eagle News) — The Senate and the House of Representatives should thresh out their issues and determine how to move forward with Charter Change. “Talagang tanging Kongreso lang ang dapat magresolba ng isyung ito at iyan po ang paninindigan ng Palasyo,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said. He said, however, that based on his experience as congressman, Congress “is not just deliberative, it’s consensual.” “..You need to build consensus and the same consensus-building will have to […]
“They should not allow themselves to look pathetic and worse, ridiculous,” he says (Eagle News) — Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday slammed lawmakers who said amendments and revisions to the Charter could be done without the participation of the Senate, noting that such an interpretation of what the Constitution says about charter change was “at best, self-serving.” “For their own sake, they should not allow themselves to look pathetic and worse, ridiculous,” Lacson said. Lacson […]
(Eagle News) — House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Monday said the Senate’s participation was no longer needed to amend the Charter, noting that the Constitution only explicitly says that a three fourths vote of all members of Congress was needed. “Hindi naman kailangan. Wala na tayong pag-uusapan na (Constitutional Assembly),” he said in a press conference. He said in fact, the House of Representatives has already begun proposing amendments to the Constitution, even if the […]
(Eagle News)– The proposed Charter in the House of Representatives bans People Power and grants government the power to suppress irresponsible media, former Rep. Neri Colmenares said on Saturday. In arguing his position, Colmenares in a statement cited changes in the 1987 constitutional provisions on where sovereignty lies and on the right to a free press and to free speech as contained in the approved Constituent Assembly House Resolution No. 9. For the first, Colmenares […]
(Eagle News) — Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas on Thursday maintained the House resolution seeking for the convening of Congress into a constitutional assembly to amend the Charter was not railroaded. In making the statement, Fariñas effectively belied claims made by militant groups such as Gabriela and Bayan Muna about House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) No. 9. “It is a product of democratic and exhaustive debates not just in the plenary hall of the House of Representatives, in the […]
(Eagle News) — The Senate will file a resolution seeking for a Constitutional Convention should the Supreme Court decide in favor of joint voting to amend the 1987 Charter via a Constitutional Assembly. Senator Panfilo Lacson made the announcement during a Senate hearing on Charter Change on Wednesday. “If the SC would rule (as such), then we will no longer enter into an agreement with the House to meet in joint session. Instead, we will […]
(Eagle News) — The argument that the Constitution should be amended via a Constitutional Assembly on the basis that this was the “cheaper” method was “cheap.” This is according to former Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who spoke at the start of Senate hearings on Charter Change on Wednesday. “A good Constitution is the best investment people can make,” Puno said. According to Puno, the best method to amend the Constitution was a Constitutional Convention, under […]
(Eagle News) — Vice President Leni Robredo said she would “respect” the decision of the people if they no longer wanted to have a vice president. “Pero kinakailangan kahilingan ito ng tao, hindi ng ibang politiko,” Robredo told reporters in an ambush interview on Tuesday. It was former Rep. Neri Colmenares who said the Office of the Vice President could be abolished under a “PDP-Laban Constitution.” In the House, the committee on constitutional amendments proposed […]
Proposed shift to federalism a “lethal experiment” By Meanne Corvera Eagle News Service Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide on Wednesday said there was no need to amend the Constitution, which he called the “best” in the world. Davide made the statement at the start of the Senate’s hearing on resolutions calling for the convening of the Upper House as a Constituent Assembly to amend the Constitution. Davide said the proposed shift to federalism was only […]
