Pumirma ang lahat ng 24 senador sa manifesto ng kanilang oposisyon sa people’s initiative para mabago ang ilang probisyon ng Saligang Batas.
“While it seems simple, the goal is apparent — to make it easier to revise the Constitution by eliminating the Senate from the equation. It is an obvious prelude to further amendments, revisions, or even an overhaul of our entire Constitution,” ani Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Aniya nabalot na ng mga kontrobersiya at panunuhol ang pangangalap ng pirma.
Paliwaag niya layon ng PI na mabuo ang dalawang Kapulungan ng Kongreso bilang Constituent Assembly at mapag-isa na lamang ang boto ng mga senador at kongresista.
Ayon kay Zubiri sa “joint voting” ng Senado at Kamara ay mabubura ang “principle of bicameralism” at ang “system of checks and balances.”
“If this PI prospers, further changes to the Constitution can be done with or without the Senate’s approval, or worse, even absent all the senators. Should Congress vote jointly in a Constituent assembly, the Senate and its 24 members cannot cast any meaningful vote against the 316 members of the House of Representatives. This singular and seemingly innocuous change in the Constitution will open the floodgates to a wave of amendments and revisions that will erode the nation as we know it,” sabi pa nito.
Una nang naghain ng resolusyon si Zubiri kasama sina Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda at Sen. Sonny Angara upang malimitahan lamang sa tatlong “economic provisions” sa Saligang Batas ang maaring maamyendahan ng dalawang kapulungan.
“Today, the Senate once again stands as a bastion of democracy, as it rejects this brazen attempt to violate the Constitution, the country, and our people. This Senate of the people will not allow itself to be silenced,” sabi pa ni Zubiri.
Magsasagawa ng pagdinig ang Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation na pinamumunuan ni Sen. Imee Marcos sa nabuyag na diumano’y panunuhol sa mga pipirma para sa Charter change o Cha-cha.