Angara, Edgardo J. Senator (Guest Speaker)
Kapihan sa Senado Excerpts
December 14, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Kapihan sa Senado Excerpts
07 December 2006
Guest: Senator Juan Ponce Enrile
The Senate gears for a legal battle as it awaits the next move of the House on its game plan to amend the Constitution via House Resolution No. 1450.
Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, guest speaker during the Kapihan sa Senado, said that the House will face legal battle in the Supreme Court once it submits its proposed amendments to the Constitution to the Comelec.
Enrile, however, noted that the passage of a resolution by the House is legal and within its jurisdiction. Likewise, he gave the opinion that the final decision will ultimately depend on the Supreme Court, on how it will rule on the legality of the House measure.
He also reiterated the stand of the Senate to vote separately on the manner of changing the Constitution.
When asked about the chance meeting that took place last night during a birthday party in Makati between President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and eleven senators including Senate President Manuel B. Villar, Senate Majority Leader Kiko Pangilinan, and Senators Ralph Recto, Richard Gordon, and Edgardo Angara, Enrile said the President may not be informed about the complete game plan of the House, but must be aware that it is acting on its own.
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On the passage of a House resolution convening the Congress into a Constituent Assembly:
“The House has the right, and empowered, to pass a resolution to convene Congress into a Constituent Assembly, and that’s why I filed a resolution here to ask the Senate to pass the same resolution, which will be heard on Monday. But we still don’t know the disposition of the Senate after the hearing. But as far as the process is concerned, there is nothing unusual about the passage of the measure in the House. But I still do not know whether they have already initiated the process of conducting the submission of proposals to amend or revise the Constitution”
Interpretation of the word “Congress” in the Constitution:
“The House of the Representatives is not the Congress of the Philippines. The Senate is not the Congress of the Philippines. The Congress of the Philippines is the House and the Senate working together. They may interpret that the Constitution does not say that the two Houses must act separately, but the structure of the Congress is composed of two Congresses. I think that the failure of the framers of the Constitution during the Aquino administration that drafted the 1997 Constitution did not make a detailed statement on the manner of how the Congress would convene, is a product of the fact that originally the Congress was supposed to be a unicameral Congress. But when they finally voted, and they changed the structure of that Congress and made it bicameral, the original intent was equally changed. And so, every term Congress in the Constitution should reflect the changed intention of the commission to mean that Congress refers to two Houses.”
Supreme Court on PI and Con-Ass:
“This will become a major legal battle in the Supreme Court. There are only 14 members, and the division based on the issue of the people’s initiative (PI), was eight (8) in favor of saying that it is not valid, and seven (7) said that it was valid. Now the eight (8) has been reduced to seven (7), and we have a seven (7) to seven (7) position, assuming that each side will maintain their respective position. So, if that is the situation, and a live case is presented to the Supreme Court, and the SC would not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent the submission of the amendment approved by the House to the people in a plebiscite for approval, and the people voted and approved it, and there is an overwhelming vote, then in that case, it will become fait accompli. The Supreme Court might say, well this is the people’s mandate. But I hope that the Supreme Court will not take that position, but that is a possibility.”
07 December 2006
Guest: Senator Juan Ponce Enrile
The Senate gears for a legal battle as it awaits the next move of the House on its game plan to amend the Constitution via House Resolution No. 1450.
Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, guest speaker during the Kapihan sa Senado, said that the House will face legal battle in the Supreme Court once it submits its proposed amendments to the Constitution to the Comelec.
Enrile, however, noted that the passage of a resolution by the House is legal and within its jurisdiction. Likewise, he gave the opinion that the final decision will ultimately depend on the Supreme Court, on how it will rule on the legality of the House measure.
He also reiterated the stand of the Senate to vote separately on the manner of changing the Constitution.
When asked about the chance meeting that took place last night during a birthday party in Makati between President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and eleven senators including Senate President Manuel B. Villar, Senate Majority Leader Kiko Pangilinan, and Senators Ralph Recto, Richard Gordon, and Edgardo Angara, Enrile said the President may not be informed about the complete game plan of the House, but must be aware that it is acting on its own.
------------
On the passage of a House resolution convening the Congress into a Constituent Assembly:
“The House has the right, and empowered, to pass a resolution to convene Congress into a Constituent Assembly, and that’s why I filed a resolution here to ask the Senate to pass the same resolution, which will be heard on Monday. But we still don’t know the disposition of the Senate after the hearing. But as far as the process is concerned, there is nothing unusual about the passage of the measure in the House. But I still do not know whether they have already initiated the process of conducting the submission of proposals to amend or revise the Constitution”
Interpretation of the word “Congress” in the Constitution:
“The House of the Representatives is not the Congress of the Philippines. The Senate is not the Congress of the Philippines. The Congress of the Philippines is the House and the Senate working together. They may interpret that the Constitution does not say that the two Houses must act separately, but the structure of the Congress is composed of two Congresses. I think that the failure of the framers of the Constitution during the Aquino administration that drafted the 1997 Constitution did not make a detailed statement on the manner of how the Congress would convene, is a product of the fact that originally the Congress was supposed to be a unicameral Congress. But when they finally voted, and they changed the structure of that Congress and made it bicameral, the original intent was equally changed. And so, every term Congress in the Constitution should reflect the changed intention of the commission to mean that Congress refers to two Houses.”
Supreme Court on PI and Con-Ass:
“This will become a major legal battle in the Supreme Court. There are only 14 members, and the division based on the issue of the people’s initiative (PI), was eight (8) in favor of saying that it is not valid, and seven (7) said that it was valid. Now the eight (8) has been reduced to seven (7), and we have a seven (7) to seven (7) position, assuming that each side will maintain their respective position. So, if that is the situation, and a live case is presented to the Supreme Court, and the SC would not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent the submission of the amendment approved by the House to the people in a plebiscite for approval, and the people voted and approved it, and there is an overwhelming vote, then in that case, it will become fait accompli. The Supreme Court might say, well this is the people’s mandate. But I hope that the Supreme Court will not take that position, but that is a possibility.”
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