(Eagle News) — Senator Grace Poe on Thursday proposed to amend the Charter via a Constitutional Convention instead.
Poe issued the statement after her colleague, Senator Panfilo Lacson, proposed to make amendments by convening the Senate as a Constitutional Assembly separate from the House of Representatives.
“Given the extent of the proposed changes in the Constitution, I maintain that having a constitutional convention is the best and most acceptable mode to take, even if it appears impractical to some,” Poe said.
According to Poe, in a Con-Con, “revisions to the highest law of the land (are) tackled with transparency, debated upon by the experts, and shall be decided ultimately by the people and not just those in Congress.”
Under Con-Ass, it is Congress, convening as an assembly, that makes amendments to the Charter.
In a Con-Con, those who will amend the Constitution are delegates elected by the people.
Should Con-Ass be the method agreed upon though, Poe said she would “support the position” of Lacson “that the bicameral congress should vote separately as was actually intended by the framers of the charter.”
“Any move for a literal interpretation that would obliterate the relevance of the entire Senate by the 300-member lower House in the voting must be rejected for being contrary to spirit of the 1987 Constitution,” she said.