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Constitutional amendment pushed to heed Duterte advice to change party-list law: Sotto

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Thursday said a resolution to convene Congress as a constituent assembly was filed after President Rodrigo Duterte asked lawmakers to amend or abolish the party-list system in the Constitution.The intention was never to extend term limits, Sotto told reporters in an online press conference, noting that the President suggested amending or abolishing the party-list law during a meeting with lawmakers &quot;2 months ago.&quot;&quot;Sinabi niya (Duterte said), &#x27;I want this problem of the CPP-NPA solved and the best way is we remove the party-list system or change it in the constitution,&#x27;&quot; Sotto said, referring to the President&#x27;s statement during a meeting with lawmakers in Malacañang.&quot;&#x27;Samantalahin niyo na, you can amend the economic provisions,&#x27;&quot; he said, quoting the President.(To make the most out of it, you can amend the economic provisions.)Under the 1987 Constitution, &quot;party-list representatives shall constitute 20 percent of the total number of representatives&quot; in the House.Party-list groups are supposed to represent &quot;the labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, and such other sectors,&quot; but analysts noted that the system is now being used by political dynasties to have more relatives occupy seats in government.Duterte has also repeatedly accused several party-list groups of being fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing the New People&#x27;s Army (NPA), but representatives from the Makabayan bloc in the House have denied the allegations.&quot;Nabanggit lang ng Presidente na (The President just mentioned that), &#x27;I hope you will be able to solve this problem of the party-list. I hope I don&#x27;t need to use military action,&quot; Sotto said.&quot;A week or two after, Senators Tolentino and Dela Rosa filed a resolution,&quot; he said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/06/21/house-to-resume-charter-change-hearings">House to resume charter change hearings</a></li></ul>Dela Rosa and Tolentino&#x27;s resolution seeking to convene Congress as a constituent assembly did not directly mention the abolition or amendment of constitutional provisions on party-list groups, but noted that lawmakers should introduce &quot;meaningful reforms reinforcing not only economic growth and development but also more pragmatic democratic representation.&quot;&quot;I do not have yet a consensus on whether majority of the Senate would vote for that,&quot; he said.&quot;There are members who will say na dangerous to open [ang Constitution] suddenly dahil baka may ibang agenda na ipasok,&quot; he said.(There are members who will say that it is dangerous to suddenly open the Constitution because other agendas might be inserted.)<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/07/21/waste-of-time-drilon-says-minority-senators-to-block-charter-change-push">&#x27;Waste of time&#x27;: Drilon says minority senators to block charter change push</a></li></ul>If majority of senators will not agree with tinkering with the Constitution, Congress can just amend the party-list law, the Senate President said.&quot;Amend the law. Limit it to talagang (those who are really) marginalized,&quot; he said.&quot;May nag-suggest na kapag ikaw ay nilalaban mo na ibagsak ang gobyerno, dapat disqualified ka. Kung gusto mong ibagsak ang gobyerno, dapat hindi puwede party niyo,&quot; he said.(Someone suggested that those who are looking to topple the government should be disqualified. If you want to destabilize the government, that group should not be qualified as a party-list.)Sotto said he prefers to just amend the law instead of convening Congress as a constituent assembly.&quot;I&#x27;ve always had apprehensions when it comes to Cha-Cha as in charter change. Mas naniniwala ako na ang kailangan natin ay [ibang] cha-cha, character change,&quot; he said.(I believe what we need is a different kind of cha-cha, character change.)&quot;But I live by consensus so I will leave it to the members of the majority kung ano ang napupusuan nila (to decide on their own). They have their opinion, I have mine,&quot; he said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/01/19/18/alamin-pagkakaiba-ng-con-con-at-con-ass">ALAMIN: Pagkakaiba ng con-con at con-ass</a></li></ul><div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z1RL0GTefXY?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Thursday said a resolution to convene Congress as a constituent assembly was filed after President Rodrigo Duterte asked lawmakers to amend or abolish the party-list system in the constitution.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Thursday said a resolution to convene Congress as a constituent assembly was filed after President Rodrigo Duterte asked lawmakers to amend or abolish the party-list system in the constitution.

Constitutional amendment pushed to heed Duterte advice to change party-list law: Sotto

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Constitutional amendment pushed to heed Duterte advice to change party-list law: Sotto

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 07, 2021 02:15 PM PHT

Read More:

Tito Sotto

Rodrigo Duterte

charter change

constitutional amendment

Senate

CPP-NPA

party-list

party-list law

politics

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