Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Friday, January 26, that a constitutional crisis he warned about is slowly happening.
“We have warned about a possible constitutional crisis and tried to avoid it. But unfortunately, it seems that this is slowly happening,” Zubiri, who has roots in Negros Occidental, said.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez sent a letter to the Senate expressing its commitment to support Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 (RBH 6), filed by Zubiri seeking to form a subcommittee under the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and start the discussions on the proposal to amend three economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
Zubiri and Romualdez had a series of talks with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., where it was agreed that the RBH 6 will be approved by the Senate and adopted by the House of Representatives.
Romualdez’s letter further states that he is in full support of an “alternative people’s initiative,” which Zubiri denied was part of the discussion.
“We believe that any legitimate people’s initiative must be genuinely led by the people. The Senate still maintains that this people’s initiative, in its current form and how the signatures are being collected, is flawed and unconstitutional,” Zubiri said.
Still hoping that a constitutional crisis “will be averted soon,” Zubiri assured that the Senate will remain vigilant by carefully studying the options available and maintain bicameralism in the legislative branch.
He said Romualdez’s letter “will have our reply on Monday.”*PNA