Amid House-Senate rift, Romualdez seeks common ground on Cha-cha with Zubiri

MANILA, Philippines — After the Senate delivered a scathing rejection of the ongoing People’s Initiative (PI) campaign to amend the Charter, House Speaker Martin Romualdez has reached out to Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to express the lower chamber's support for an alternative PI led by the upper chamber.

In a letter addressed to Zubiri, Romualdez said that the House leadership welcomes the Senate’s proposal to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution through Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6.

“This Representation as the head of the House of the People, together with all the Deputy Speaker, Majority Leader, and Minority Leader reiterates our FULL SUPPORT with the Senate in their filing of (RBH No. 6),” Romualdez said in his letter dated January 25, which his office sent to reporters Thursday night. 

Romualdez added that the House will also support the creation of an “alternative People's Initiative led by the Senate with the proposition on amendments to the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution.”

The letter also quoted parts of Romualdez’s opening statement on Monday where he lauded the Senate’s moves to amend the 1987 Constitution through a Constituent Assembly.

The House speaker added: “We stand at a historic juncture where cooperation and collective resolve are paramount. We will transcend past barriers to reform, charting a course towards a future where every Filipino can partake in the nation's prosperity.”

All 24 senators signed a manifesto on Monday opposing the ongoing PI campaign that some senators say the House speaker is responsible for but which Romualdez continues to deny being behind. Other House lawmakers have also expressed support for the PI campaign. 

RELATED: Romualdez sidesteps allegation he ordered People's Initiative signature drive 

The petition being distributed for signatures in the PI campaign seeks to amend the 1987 Constitution to allow the House and the Senate to vote jointly in connection to proposed changes to the Charter. 

Voting jointly means that the House — which has a greater number of members than the Senate — will have the upper hand in Charter change decisions.

Allegations of vote-buying have also hounded the PI campaign after Rep. Edcel Lagman (Albay, 1st District) said in early January that some local executives have been ordered to pay for people’s signatures. 

RELATED: Lawmakers flag 'vote-buying' in Charter change signature campaign  

On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said that several senators have lost interest in pushing for RBH 6 upon learning that House leaders are supposedly behind the PI campaign. 

"It’s obviously the main reason why a lot of senators are not interested anymore in pushing for the joint resolution," Villanueva said in a press conference.

In response, House Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe said that Villanueva’s claim was “baseless.”

“These claims, grounded in allegations linking the House leadership to the people's initiative, are not only baseless but also regrettably cast a shadow over the collaborative efforts required for constitutional reforms,” Dalipe said in a statement.

Romualdez said in an earlier press release that the lower chamber does not “endorse or sanction direct participation by its members in signature gathering” for the PI campaign.