Senate President Migz Zubiri wants the Senate to spearhead the review of the 1987 Constitution and President Bongbong Marcos tasked the upper chamber to do so.
Zubiri said that Marcos gave the instruction at a meeting which was also attended by House Speaker Martin Romualdez. Zubiri said the Senate has raised concerns over the ongoing people’s initiative campaign being spearheaded by PIRMA.
“While we respect and recognize the people as our sovereign, with the right to call for constitutional change, we must guard against any attempt to revise the Constitution by exploiting our democratic process under the guise of a people’s initiative,” said Zubiri in a press briefing.
Zubiri warned that a people’s initiative may lead to legal repercussions.
“The proposal subject of the people’s initiative could have led to a constitutional crisis, destabilizing our bicameralism and upsetting the system of checks and balances,” he added.
The current initiative also propose that Congress votes jointly.
“While the Senate is vehemently opposed to a dilution of its participation in the task of reviewing the Constitution, we exercised all restraint, because in any conflict, it is always the people who stand to suffer the most,” Zubiri added.
