HEADLINES
Ex-congressmen in Senate decry Lower House pressure to fastrack Chacha
2/8/24, 5:30 AM
Senators Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Joel Villanueva and Francis “Chiz” Escudero chided leaders of the House of Representatives for pressure the Senate, a co-equal body, to rush its study of the proposed Charter amendments contained in Resolution of Both Houses No. 6.
The three senators who rose to prominence for outstanding performance as congressmen, said the Senate will continue to carefully thread and thoroughly study RBH 6, adding that consultations with stakeholders and concerned experts will continue.
“Paano maglalatag ng posisyon ang mga senador eh kakaumpisa lang ng hearings kun saan papakinggan ang mga eksperto? Hindi ba ganoon ang pagbalangkas ng batas?” asked Angara who is presiding over the Senate hearings.
Angara stressed that more time should be spent to listen and consider the sentiments of various concerned quarters before a decision on the issue could be reached.
Majority Leader Villanueva and Escudero appeared to have been piqued by the series of press statements issued by House Majority Leader and Zamboanga City Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe assailing the protracted Senate proceedings on RBH 6 which contains proposed revision of economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
“Who is he?” an apparently irritated Villanueva retorted when asked to react to Dalipe’s numerous tirades.
Escudero, on the other hand, described Dalipe’s claim in his press releases as “a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black."
Reacting to Dalipe’s press statement demanding that the Senate must now state its position on the Charter issues, Escudero said it would be advisable for the Zamboanga City solon and his Lower House colleagues to admit in public their role in the “fake” people’s initiative signature campaign to amend the 1987 Constitution.
"Why don't they come out in the open, be accountable and admit to the public that they are truly the ones behind this pekeng People's Initiative instead of doing a striptease?" Escudero asked.
He continued: "Noong una, sinasabi nila 'wala kaming kinalaman dyan' then, sumunod na sinasabi na sila ay 'facilitator but not orchestrator...' and now, they have the nerve to say 'titigil namin ang PI pag pinasa nila ang RBH6.'"
"It would bode well for them to heed their own Speaker's words when he quoted the saying 'People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones,'" Escudero stressed.