Palace hands off in Senate, House dispute on amending Constitution

January 20, 2018

Malacanang is hands off in a dispute between the Senate and the House of Representatives over moves to amend the 1987 Constitution to shift to a federal form of government.

In a provincial briefing, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte respects the independence of Congress despite a Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez's recent pronouncements to force the Senate to agree to a joint session and voting with the lower house in crafting a constitution for a federal government.

"Let Congress do its job as a constitutional assembly," Roque said.

Roque said the two chambers should agree on amending the 1987 Constitution. "(We have a) consensual Congress. So the Senate and the House of Representatives should come to an agreement to be able to pass... (or) amend the Constitution," Roque said.

On Friday, senators persisted in defending the independence of the Senate  as Alvarez insisted senators vote with the nearly 300 congressmen on Charter amendments.

Alvarez said he will push ahead with a plan to convene Congress as a constituent assembly (con-ass) even without senators. DMS