The Senate of the Philippines has released a manifesto that disagrees with the so-called People’s Initiative, which aims to unify the votes of the Senate and House of Representatives in the next move to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Led by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, all 24 senators have agreed to and signed this manifesto.
According to Zubiri, if the joint voting has been approved by both assemblies, the Senate may lose its voice in deciding the amendments to the constitution due to their small numbers compared to the members of the House, which has more than 300 Congressmen.
The senator also emphasized that if joint voting will allow the revision of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, it may destroy the delicate balance among the senate members.
Zubiri said that joint voting by the House is simply eliminating the Senate from the equation to easily revise the Constitution.
In a separate speech by Senator Ronald Bato Dela Rosa, he said that the Peoples Initiative is becoming an instrument to take advantage of the weaknesses of Filipinos for the personal benefit of those who want to gain power.
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos said that he left the leadership to the Senate in the matter of the Charter Change.
The People’s Initiative is a gathering of signatures from the wrists of the people to support the changes in the process of amending the Constitution.
On the other side, House Speaker Martin Romualdez insisted that the House did not endorse the People’s Initiative or sanction direct participation by its members in signature gatherings.
Hea also said that the House of Representatives respects the outcomes of the process, affirming the Peoples Initiative as the purest form of democracy.