I have received and read the letter of Speaker Martin Romualdez on the legislative efforts to effect changes to the 1987 Constitution.
As for his suggestion of an alternative people’s initiative emanating from the Senate, there have been no discussions on this. We believe that any legitimate people’s initiative must be genuinely led by the people. The Senate still maintains that this people’s initiative, in its current form and how the signatures are being collected, is flawed and unconstitutional.
We have warned about a possible constitutional crisis and tried to avoid it. But unfortunately, it seems that this is slowly happening.
We hope this crisis will be averted soon. We intend to carefully study the options available to us to maintain the checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution through a bicameral legislature. We remain vigilant for our country and for our people.