By Junex Doronio
MANILA — Short of saying that members of the upper chamber of Congress are “usad-pagong” (turtle-paced) and they only have 12 session days to pass economic Charter amendments, House Deputy Majority Leader and Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre has reminded the senators that time is of the essence.
On Thursday (21 March 2024), the Tingog party-list lawmaker echoed the statements of his colleagues that the Senate is fast running out of time to act on proposed amendments to the Constitution’s restrictive economic provisions.
“However, we have to understand there is a limited time frame to do this. As many of us know, the elections are coming, and we already cited that the most favorable time is for this to be passed before the Congress adjourns sine die (on May 25),” Acidre said in a press conference.
He disclosed that Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez wants to give the Senate enough time to tackle the amendment proposals.
“So those are the things that we’re looking at, the deadlines. Hindi naman namin pwedeng tawagin we imposed on the Senate, but this is a reasonable time frame for them. If the Senate means what they said, then they will have to pass it before the sine die (adjournment),” Acidre further said.
He noted that if the Senate approves the proposed amendments by the time Congress goes on its long recess in May up to July, these could be submitted to the people in a plebiscite before the May 2025 elections.
Based on Acidre’s timeline, senators have only 12 session days to approve their version of the amendment proposals contained in Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6, from the time lawmakers return to work on April 29 after their five-week Holy Week break.
Congress will be in session until May 24 before the sine die adjournment.
(el Amigo/MNM)