Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Thursday said that he would file a resolution next week that would allow the Senate to convene itself into a Constituent assembly (Con-ass).
During a media forum in the Senate, Lacson said he wants the Senate and the House of Representatives to convene as separate constituent assemblies to ensure that upper chamber will not be outvoted by the numerically-superior lower house as they make amendments to the Constitution.
“Ang iniisip ko naman magpa-file din ako ng Senate resolution to constitute ourselves (I will file a Senate resolution to constitute ourselves), the Senate, into a Constituent Assembly… and wait for the lower house to do the same, if they wish,” Lacson said.
Under the resolution, Lacson stressed that the Senate sitting as a Con-ass will propose and cast a vote on any amendments to the 1987 Constitution by a three-fourths vote.
“If my resolution is adopted next week to constitute the Senate into a constituent assembly, we can already start our amendments and approve these at least on our level by three-fourths vote,” he said.
According to Lacson, once the voting on the amendments is done, the upper chamber will discuss the proposal along with its counterpart, the House, to settle their contradicting proposals.
The senator said that both chambers should vote separately on any amendments to the Constitution prior to its presentation to the public through a plebiscite.
Lacson added that his proposal would preserve the check and balance in Congress, which would be reduced if the two chambers would meet as one body.
He said he hopes that majority of his colleagues will support the resolution that he intend to file next week, especially that some of them said they will not concur to a joint voting.
“Base sa pahayag ng aking mga kasamahan, talagang di nila matatanggap na kakainin kami ng House of Representatives pagdating sa proposals sa pag-amend sa Constitution. I’m hopeful magkakaroon ako ng suporta kung ganoon ifa-file ko na resolution (Based on my colleagues’ statements, they can’t really accept that we will be outvoted by House of Representatives when it comes to proposals amending the Constitution. I’m hopeful that I’ll be getting the support if I file the resolution),” Lacson said in a press briefing.