People’s Initiative campaign an assault on checks and balances, says Jinggoy Estrada

The move to overwhelm the Senate’s 24 votes with the House of Representatives’ over 300 votes is nothing short of an affront to the principles of bicameralism, Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada said.

That is why, Estrada said insisting on a People’s Initiative (PI) as the mode to amend the 1987 Constitution is considered an assault on checks and balances in Congress.

“The move to overwhelm the Senate’s 24 votes with the House of Representatives’ over 300 votes is nothing short of an affront to the principles of bicameralism and the checks and balances that underpin our democratic framework,” Estrada said in his privilege speech on Thursday, January 25.

“The idea that a simple joint vote could render our bicameral system meaningless is not only an insult to this august institution but a betrayal of the trust the people have placed in us,” he pointed out.

According to Estrada, any attempt to undermine the independence and integrity of the Senate should be met with resolute opposition.

“We are the defenders of the people’s will, and we cannot allow maneuvers that undermine the very foundations of our democratic system,” he said as he defended the Senate’s manifesto, signed by 24 senators, condemning the ongoing PI signature campaign.

In her interpellation on Estrada’s speech, Sen. Pia Cayetano agreed with the senator pointing out that “since the 1935 Constitution, the Senate and House of Representatives have been voting separately.”

Cayetano cited legal luminaries such as Christian Monsod, former Senate President Franklin Drilon, Fr. Joaquin Bernas SJ, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, who said that the Constitution is clear, stating that the two chamber of Congress should vote separately to maintain checks and balances.

“We vote separately when we pass local bills such as changing of street names and clustering of barangays, so why would we vote jointly if we will change the Constitution which is considered as the bible of lawmakers?” Cayetano said.

“To give protection to life, liberty and property, we passed laws separately in the Senate and the House of Representatives. So, when it comes to changing the Constitution, why do we need to vote jointly?” she pointed out.

People’s Initiative for Reform Modernization and Action (PIRMA) National Lead Convenor Noel Oñate earlier admitted that their purpose of pushing Charter change through a People’s Initiative (PI) is intended to “dilute” the Senate vote.

But in their manifesto, the senators, led by Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, warned the House can easily overtake the Upper Chamber, with its overwhelming number of members, and “force Charter change.”

“It is ridiculous that the Senate, a co-equal chamber of the House, necessary to pass even local bills, will have a dispensable and diluted role in Charter Change—the most monumental act of policymaking concerning the highest law in the land,” lamented the senators in their manifesto. — Hannah Torregoza