Transcript of interview with Senate President Franklin M. Drilon

Q: Some congressmen are opposing the dialogue on cha-cha because they say they are making a pact with the devil

SPFMD: (in jest) When they meet their creator, they will know who is the devil.

Q: What is the position of the Senate committee, has it not changed?

SPFMD: I don't think the position of the committee has changed. Let me emphasize that what Senator Gordon is proposing, is a bicameral Constituent Assembly wherein two houses will vote separately on constitutional amendments. What the House is proposing, is a Constituent Assembly where only the House will vote. What Senator Gordon is proposing, and is supported by the language of the Constitution, is a bicameral Constituent Assembly. A Constituent Assembly is a generic term used to describe a body of men and women tasked to amend, write or revise the Constitution. So that even a Constitutional Convention is, in its generic sense, a Constituent Assembly. Because when you amend or write the Constitution, you are performing a constituent function. Therefore, when Congress would amend or revise the Constitution, it is performing not a legislative function but a constituent function. What is a constituent function? Amending, revising, writing a Constitution. What Senator Gordon and the committee is proposing is a bicameral Constituent Assembly, which is supported by our Constitution, by our bicameral nature of the legislature and by the very rules of the House of Representatives.

Q: That position is supported by majority of the senators?

SPFMD: That position is supported by majority of the senators. 22 senators signed a resolution, passed by the Senate unanimously; that the Senate and the House must vote separately in a Constituent Assembly. What Senator Gordon's committee is doing is simply to adhere to this resolution unanimously passed by the Senate, supported by 22 senators, excluding Senator Magsaysay, who was not here, supported by the entire membership of the Senate, including those identified with the administration.

Q: But there are dissenting positions by Senator Santiago and Senator Pimentel

SPFMD: No, Senator Santiago and Senator Pimentel are not dissenting. They have adhered to the position that the Senate must vote separately in a Constituent Assembly. What Senator Santiago is saying is, if the Supreme Court decides otherwise, then she will participate in a work of a Constituent Assembly. That is if the Supreme Court decides that proposals to amend the Constitution can be done by the House of Representatives alone.

Q: Sir, not on the resolution, but on the position of the Gordon committee

SPFMD: That is a committee position. Senator Santiago is entitled to her own position. What I am just emphasizing is that there is a unanimous Senate resolution, which adopts the position that the Senate and the House must vote separately. What Senator Gordon is doing is consistent with this resolution of the Senate as a whole. (end)