Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Lakas, Cebu) said congressmen will conclude plenary debates on Concurrent House Resolution No. 23, which urges Congress to act as a constituent assembly to amend the Charter.
Cuenco, chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, said the impending adoption of the resolution would jumpstart the drafting of the proposed amendments by December.
Together with Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Constantino G. Jaraula, chairman of the House Committee on Charter Reforms, Cuenco said congressmen are confident majority of senators would eventually support the Charter bid.
Cuenco and Jaraula said that under the 1987 Constitution, the Charter may be amended or revised upon a vote of three fourths by all its members or via a constitutional convention.
Jaraula said the provision does not mention anything about a joint session.
"Two questions are, therefore, brought to the fore that must be resolved —a) must Congress assemble in joint session before it can propose amendments? (b) should the two chambers of Congress propose amendments separately by a vote of three fourths of their respective memberships?" the administration lawmaker asked.
He explained that since a joint session is not mentioned in the 1987 Charter, it becomes clear that Congress may separately formulate amendments by a vote of three- fourths of all its members and "then differences will be ironed out through a bicameral conference committee."
"Alternatively, the House of Representatives and the Senate can also come together in joint session and vote separately on proposed amendments and revisions," the Mindanao lawmaker said.
Cuenco said that the power to propose amendments is given not merely to a unicameral body, but to a bicameral one.
"Hence, it is fundamental that each chamber should set into motion the constitutional process of charter change. It will always take two to do the cha-cha, but the House can already hit the floor, as we already did, and perform the crucial steps," Cuenco said.
He expressed confidence that the Senate "is already dressing up" to support the Charter change bid.
Jaraula aired the same opinion, saying that "it is no longer a question of —if for the Senate —but of when senators would concur with the House proposal."
"What’s making them walk gingerly in this process is basically their ‘fiscalizing attitude’ towards Malacañang, if not the serious distrust by some in the effect of the Charter change in the term of the presidency," he said.
Plenary debates of the proposed Charter bid started last week, with House Speaker Jose De Venecia taking the occasion to preside over the session.
De Venecia, a staunch advocate of Charter reform, laudedJaraula for his floor sponsorship of Committee Report 1065 on House Concurrent Resolution No. 26.
"Our people are clinging to that last hope that this Congress will finally find political courage to stand by the belief that we must liberate ourselves from the cloud of denialand fear, and face the imperatives for structural change of the present system," said Jaraula.
De Venecia described the moment as "historically significant — a "watershed moment" in the nation’s history because we are on the even of constitutional reforms that would change our country’s system of politics."
De Venecia stressed that Charter reform will lift "the restrictive policies" that have made the Philipines among the poorest, compared to other Asian economies.
"Charter reform is absolutely necessary for an immediate shift in the structure of government, and open the economy to a massive inflow of foreign investments that will create millions of jobs and mass housing projects, modernize our agriculture and infrastructure system, and help raise the country’s competitiveness in the global market," the House leader said.
