News Roundup 26 February 2024
Feb 26, 2024 • 5 min Read
Marcos wants Cha-cha plebiscite in 2025 elections | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told senators he wants the plebiscite on proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution to be held alongside the 2025 midterm polls, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Monday.
This is the second time that Marcos has instructed the upper chamber of Congress — which is supposed to be independent of the executive and was lukewarm to Charter change until this year — about how lawmakers should revise the 1987 Constitution.
This follows Marcos’ directive in January that the Senate should take the lead in proposing amendments to the Charter, which he reportedly said in his meeting with Zubiri and House Speaker Martin Romualdez on concerns about the people’s initiative campaign.
Even as the House of Representatives is gunning for a plebiscite to be held as early as July, with the president’s proposed timeline, the Senate now eyes final approval of Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6 before it adjourns on May 24, Zubiri told reporters after the Senate met with the president.
The House on Monday also began its deliberations of RBH 7 — a measure similar to its Senate counterpart but which excludes any provision on whether Congress will vote on constitutional amendments separately or jointly.
During his speech, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro, 2nd District) said that the House filed the measure to speed up the legislative approval of economic amendments and as a response to the Senate’s “obstructionist” approach to Charter change.
Full Story at: Marcos wants Cha-cha plebiscite in 2025 elections | Philstar.com
‘We’re working on it’: DOJ says on expelled solon Teves’ extradition | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) said it is working on extraditing expelled lawmaker Arnolfo Teves Jr. after a Manila court ordered the cancellation of his passport.
In a press briefing on Monday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the Philippine government are in discussions with the government of East Timor, where the solon was reportedly last seen.
“We just had to wait for the [Manila] court to cancel the passport, to show it’s not just a political matter, it’s not even a political matter but a criminal justice matter. That’s why his right to travel has been impaired because the courts have already canceled the passport based on the cases already pending before our courts on Teves,” Remulla said.
On February 8, the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 51 ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to revoke Teves’ passport due to his designation as a terrorist by the Anti-Terrorism Council and charges related to financing terrorism.
Teves’ passport cancellation is also “deemed final and executory,” according to Remulla, as the lawmaker has not appeared before the court to appeal the verdict.
Full Story at: ‘We’re working on it’: DOJ says on expelled solon Teves’ extradition | Philstar.com
Lagman, Gonzales clash over Cha-cha rules | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — While Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman has maintained that the House of Representatives and the Senate should convene jointly to amend provisions in the 1987 Constitution, Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II pointed out that it is merely one interpretation of the rules.
Lagman, at the start of the committee of the whole hearings on Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 on Monday, asked if the House of Representatives and the Senate would still convene once both chambers ratify a final version of the resolution.
“Consequently, Mr. Chairman, once this is passed by the House and concurred in by the Senate, the Senate and the House will meet as a constituent assembly to eventually propose the amendments for ratification or rejection by the people in a proper plebiscite. Is that correct?” Lagman asked.
Gonzales, who is the floor leader for the proceedings, responded by saying that it might not be the case because the House and the Senate are already exercising their constitutional mandate of proposing amendments to the Constitution, and would eventually vote separately regarding the ratification of the resolutions.
This means that after both Houses ratify the final version of the House RBH No. 7 and the Senate RBH No. 6, it would be sent to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which will prepare a plebiscite on the matter.
“That is not exactly the position Mr. Speaker, because our view is that we are exercising separately the powers granted by the Constitution, which is we vote by at least three-fourths of all the members separately and then once we have concurred with the same resolution,” Gonzales said.
Full Story at: Lagman, Gonzales clash over Cha-cha rules | Inquirer News
Quiboloy: Not attending ‘bogus hearing’ | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Religious leader Apollo Quiboloy said that he would not attend the Senate investigation of the supposed crimes, including sexual abuse, committed in his Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) even after the Committee on Women had summoned him.
Quiboloy said only a court, not a Senate hearing, could determine whether a person is guilty or innocent.
“Go to court and file a case against me. I will answer you there because it would have fair play,” he said, speaking partly in Filipino, in an audio statement posted on the Facebook page of the Buhay Kingdom 2024.
He was addressing Sen. Risa Hontiveros and her witnesses, reportedly former KOJC members, who accused him of sexual abuse, among other things.
Full Story at: Quiboloy: Not attending ‘bogus hearing’ (inquirer.net)
