(MANILA BULLETIN) The move to overwhelm the Senate’s 24 votes with the House of Representatives’ over 300 votes is nothing short of an affront to the principles of bicameralism, Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada said. That is why, Estrada said insisting on a People’s Initiative (PI) as the mode to amend the 1987 Constitution is considered…
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Defending the sanctity of democratic institutions: Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada slams ongoing signature campaign to petition for Charter change. In a strongly-worded privilege speech delivered Wednesday, January 24, 2024, Estrada said the people’s initiative reeks of blatant disregard for delicate fabric of the country’s democratic system. “Let me state for the record that I am…
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PRIVILEGE SPEECH SENATOR JINGGOY EJERCITO ESTRADA 24 January 2024 SECOND REGULAR SESSION, 19TH CONGRESS Senate of the Philippines Defending The Sanctity Of Our Democratic Institutions Mister President, honorable members of this esteemed chamber: I rise today on a matter of personal and collective privilege. We find ourselves on the verge of a constitutional crisis,…
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(THE MANILA TIMES) TWO senators on Monday denounced the reported attempt by some Charter change (Cha-cha) proponents to bribe local government leaders into signing a petition to amend the Constitution. “Our Constitution is not for sale,” Sen. Maria Josefa Imelda “Imee” Marcos said in a statement. “We denounce those allegedly bribing districts, LGUs (local government…
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(INQUIRER) Hindi pinalagpas ni Senator Jinggoy Estrada ang napa-ulat na pagbabayad ng P100 sa bawat pipirma para sa isinusulong na People’s Initiative, na magiging daan para magkaroon ng Charter change o Cha-cha. “It is unethical and illegal to solicit signatures of constituents to petition for Charter change moves in exchange for P100, in the guise…
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(MANILA BULLETIN) Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada on Monday, January 8 slammed as “unethical” and “illegal” the reported attempts to railroad Charter change where local chief executives were supposedly asked to give P100 to every constituent who would sign a petition to amend a constitutional provision directing Congress to vote separately when amending the Constitution. Estrada…
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It is unethical and illegal to solicit signatures of constituents to petition for Charter change moves in exchange for P100, in the guise of supposed people’s initiative. This practice clearly violates our laws and undermines the democratic process. The people’s initiative is a constitutional right that should be exercised freely and without coercion. Whoever is…
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PUBLIC HEARING ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS AND REVISION OF CODES Did the framers of the 1987 Constitution overlook the issue of the two Houses of Congress voting separately during the Charter change (Cha-cha) process? Sen. Jinggoy Estrada posed this question to Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile in a Senate hearing Wednesday, March 22, 2023.…
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CONTINUATION OF CHA-CHA HEARINGS: Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada consults with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile during the public hearing of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revisions of Codes Wednesday, March 22, 2023 on the importance and the need to amend the 36-year-old 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. Enrile, whom Estrada fondly refers to as…
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ESTRADA CONSULTS TATAD ON CHA-CHA: Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, during the public hearing of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes Monday, March 20, 2023, asks former Sen. Francisco “Kit” Tatad if is it time yet to tinker with the Constitution. Responding to Estrada, Tatad expressed the belief that the Constitution’s ratification was questionable from the…
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