LAWMAKERS on Thursday said that passing economic Charter change is now in the hands of Senate as the Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 has already passed in the House.
House lawmakers said that the pressure is now on Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to pass Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 as he would need 18 votes calling for the approval of the resolution for economic “Cha-cha” to materialize.
“Now it is a challenge to his leadership because this time, people now understand the importance of ‘Cha-cha,’” Quezon City Rep. Marvin D. Rillo spoke in mixed Filipino and English at a media conference.
RBH No. 6 is the counterpart measure of economic “Cha-cha” in the upper Chamber. It contains the same provisions outlined in RBH No. 7, with a sole difference being how senators would vote on the proposed constitutional amendments.
“He (Zubiri) has all the available techniques, strategies to come up with this number (of votes),” Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said in a media briefer. “In fact, that he’s still there as the Senate President proves that he has the numbers to deliver.”
Talk was rife last month of a coup plot to remove Mr. Zubiri as senate president. However, the supposed plot to unseat him seems to have died down as senators signed a resolution supporting his leadership.
House lawmakers remain confident in Mr. Zubiri’s ability to deliver the votes to pass RBH No. 6 amid statements from fellow senators earlier this week that they would strike down the proposed economic “Cha-cha.” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
