Senator Bong Go has stressed that he will only favor Charter change (Cha-cha) if it will contribute to the benefit of Filipinos.
“If those who benefit from the changes in the Constitution are us politicians, then I am not in favor. The Filipino people should be the ones who will benefit from it,” Go told reporters during his visit to survivors of a fire at the Carmen National High School in Barangay Carmen, Cagayan de Oro recently.
The legislator arrived at the school on board a motorcycle shortly after noontime to help distribute financial assistance to victims of the fire that struck Carmen and Barangay (village) Lapasan.
“Discussion on constitutional amendments has not yet been scheduled in the Senate.”
Go said the discussion on Constitutional amendments has not yet been scheduled in the Senate, although Cagayan de Oro’s 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez had earlier said the lower house is expected to transmit the changes approved by the plenary at Congress to the Senate by April next year.
Among the provisions of the 1987 Constitution that will are subjects of proposed amendments are the shift from a unitary and centralized system of government to federal, the lifting of economic provisions that limit foreign ownership of corporations, and the extension of terms of elected officials from three years to five years.
“It is up to the Senate how they will look at it.”
“It is up to the Senate how they will look at it,” Rodriguez said during the public consultation on constitutional changes held at the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines gymnasium recently.
Rodriguez is optimistic that the proposed amendments to the country’s 1987 Constitution will be passed in Congress and ratified before the term of President Rodrigo Duterte ends in 2022.
“If the President would see there is a strong support in Congress, then he will be encouraged again to go back to his original advocacy and to make a strong push, as having a federal form of government was what he advocated for when ran for the presidency,” the seasoned lawmaker said.