MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon on Sunday insisted the separated voting of the House of Representatives and the Senate in case it will have to decide into a constituent assembly as the administration plans to shift into a federal form government.
“No one in the Senate will agree to a joint voting. We will insist on separate voting. The Congress can propose amendments to the Constitution using the regular lawmaking procedure,” Drilon, a former justice secretary and four-time Senate president, said.
Drilon also said the voting on the extension of the declaration of martial law in Mindanao should “serve as an example of how senate’s power could be reduced to nothing if joint voting is followed.”
In the case of the martial law extension, the voting from the joint session of the bicameral Congress was done separately but the counting was done jointly.
Drilon explained that there are various ways to amend the constitution namely by way of a constitutional convention (con-con), a constitutional assembly (Con-ass), and even through people’s initiative.
“Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of all its members, call a constitutional convention to propose amendments to, or a revision of, the Constitution,” the senator said, referring to Article XVII, Section 3 of the Constitution.
Drilon said that the members of the convention are elected under the constitutional convention.
He added that the constitution also allows the Congress to act a constitutional assembly.
Article XVII, Section 1 of the Constitution provides that the Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members, may propose any amendment to, or revision of, the Constitution, he cited.
Drilon said that the existing 1987 Constitution made it no longer necessary that the Senate and the House hold a joint session for the purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution, emphasizing that the only requirement of Sec. 1, Article XVII of the Constitution is that three-fourths of the Members of Congress propose such amendment.
Drilon added “that amending the constitution would take some time and needs not to be rushed and railroaded.”
“I am not against it. What I’m saying is we should exercise extra caution when we talk about amending our constitution,” Drilon said.
The senator said he does not think Charter change will be ready for referendum by May 2018 as projected by House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez
“That’s a timeframe too close and improbable. First, we have the impeachment case of Chief Justice Ma.Lourdes Sereno, which, according to reports, would be forwarded to the Senate by May 2018. Second, the second half of 2018 is when election fever would take place. How can that timeframe be possible?” Drilon said.