charter change

Garbin: ‘No need’ for joint session with Senate to form Con-Ass

Mara Cepeda

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Garbin: ‘No need’ for joint session with Senate to form Con-Ass

CHA-CHA DEBATES. House committee on constitutional amendments chair Alfredo Garbin Jr defends the economic charter change resolution on March 2, 2021.

Screenshot courtesy of the House of Representatives' Youtube page

But Representative Boying Remulla says Cha-Cha has a better chance of passing if the House and Senate vote jointly on the resolution

House committee on constitutional amendments chair Alfredo Garbin Jr maintained there was no need for the lower chamber to jointly meet with senators to propose amendments to the 1987 Constitution. 

Garbin reiterated his position that the House alone was already considered a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) – one of the 3 ways to propose changes to the charter – as plenary debates on Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2 resumed on Tuesday, March 2. 

It was Deputy Minority Leader Carlos Zarate who asked Garbin: “Is the position now of the good sponsor that there is no need for both houses to constitute itself into an assembly that will now accept or entertain proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution?”

Garbin said yes. 

“There is no need for it, [a] prior act of convening Congress into a joint session because the Constitution does not prescribe it. So you cannot supplant the provisions of the Constitution. Otherwise, we are amending the Constitution,” said Garbin.

“The Constitution does not say that we have to convene first before we can propose amendments,” added the Ako Bicol congressman. 

Garbin is tasked to sponsor RBH 2, which would add the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” to constitutional provisions saying only Filipino citizens can control, own, and/or lease alienable lands of public domain, natural resources, public utilities, educational institutions, mass media companies, and advertising companies in the Philippines. 

This means lawmakers would be able to legislate the lifting of current prohibitions on foreign investors – something the Constitution does not allow Congress to do at the moment. 

This is not the first time Garbin had insisted the House did not need to wait for the Senate to formally convene the Con-Ass. 

Garbin earlier declared his committee was already considered as a Con-Ass since they were exercising their constituent power by deliberating on RBH 2. 

Garbin said that 3/4 of all members of the House and the Senate voting separately can approve the proposed amendments on 3rd and final reading. The Filipino electorate will then either vote in favor or reject these amendments via a plebiscite. 

But senators have slammed Garbin, saying that only the entire Congress – and not just one house – can convene itself into a Con-Ass. 

Zarate shared the same sentiments, saying lawmaking is “a very distinct function” from amending the Constitution. 

“What we are doing now, I don’t see – as a body made that particular distinction – that we are now doing this as part of our constituent power,” said the progressive congressman.

Legal experts also shared the view of Zarate and senators, explaining that a Con-Ass is convened when both houses of Congress come together as a body to propose amendments or revisions to the Constitution through a vote of 3/4 of all members.

Still, the charter is silent on whether the House and Senate should be voting jointly or separately – a contentious issue that has led to a stalemate in past Cha-Cha attempts

Senators have expressed reservations against amending the Constitution, believing it would be “more practical”  to just pass bills designed to attract more foreign investors than opting for the divisive Cha-Cha route.

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Vote jointly to outnumber senators?

In the same session, Senior Deputy Majority Leader Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla told Garbin that the House’s push for Cha-Cha would only happen if the House and the Senate not only convenes in one session, but casts their votes as a joint body. 

Senators are long against this set-up, since they would be outnumbered by the over 300 district and party-list legislators. 

But Remulla pointed out that should the Senate refuse to act on RBH 2 or votes to outright reject it, then all the House’s efforts would be in vain. 

“‘Pag ‘di nila gawin ito ay parang nagaksaya tayo ng laway at papel at oras sa ating trabaho rito sa mas malaking kapalungan ng Kongreso ng Republika ng Pilipinas (If they don’t agree to this, then we would have just wasted our efforts here in the bigger chamber of the Congress of the Republic of the Philippines),” said Remulla.

“Ang sinasabi ko rito, sa ating karanasan, may veto power ata talaga ang Senado sa atin… Wala na tayong bilang. Ang Senado lang ang masusunod,” added the Cavite 7th District congressman. 

(What I’m saying here is that, based on our experiences, it seems the Senate really has a veto power over us… Our numbers don’t matter. Only the Senate’s will prevails.)

Remulla then suggested pursuing Cha-Cha instead via the Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) mode instead. 

A Con-Con is made up of elected delegates and can propose both amendments and revisions to the Constitution. Congress, by a vote of 2/3 of its members,  can call for an election of Con-Con members. – Rappler.com

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Mara Cepeda

Mara Cepeda specializes in stories about politics and local governance. She covers the Office of the Vice President, the Senate, and the Philippine opposition. She is a 2021 fellow of the Asia Journalism Fellowship and the Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship of the UN. Got tips? Email her at mara.cepeda@rappler.com or tweet @maracepeda.