MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang hopes the two chambers of Congress can discuss and agree on how to resolve the issue on joint voting, critical if the legislative is to move forward with the process to change the Constitution.

“I think that’s something that both houses of Congress must discuss. From my brief experience in Congress, Congress is not just deliberative, it’s consensual. You need to build consensus,” said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque on Tuesday, January 23.

He was speaking at a Palace press conference days after House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said the House of Representatives will convene itself into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) even without the presence of senators.

Alvarez insists that the 1987 Constitution calls for joint voting of both houses, an interpretation disputed by senators and the framers of the Constitution themselves.

Senators rejected joint voting  as it would render their votes practically moot given their small number of 24 compared to the 297 representatives in the lower house.

Rather than resolve the impasse, Alvarez wants to push through with Con-Ass, even without senators. (READ: ‘Con-Ass without Senate won’t pass legal, constitutional, logical test’)

Roque, while not directly calling out Alvarez, said the two chambers must work together.

“The same consensus-building will have to be resorted to between the House and the Senate with the issue of how to move forward with Constituent Assembly,” said Duterte’s spokesman. 

But while the shift to a federal form of government is a priority of the Duterte administration, Roque said the executive would let the legislative branch make the decisions.

“The President has not said how to do it. We leave it to the members of the Congress…The Congress is really independent of the executive so we will let them resolve this issue,” he said. – Rappler.com