Villar doubts Senate will support 'unpopular' charter change
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 14) — A senator doubts her colleagues will push for charter change, saying all attempts to amend the 1987 Constitution in all her years in Congress were "not popular" among the people.
"Whenever it's brought up it's not popular," Villar said.
"I have been there for so long. Nine years in Congress and 12 years in the Senate. That's a long time. More or less you know what the people want," she added.
Villar's statement comes after the House of Representatives - voting 301 to 7 - approved on third and final reading Tuesday the bill that will implement the constitutional convention that will amend the Constitution.
It echoed Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri's remarks that charter change is not a priority measure, and will unlikely gain support from senators.
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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself has also said charter change is not among his priorities, and that other urgent matters need attention.
Under Senator Robin Padilla's proposed Resolution of Both Houses No. 3, Congress shall convene as a constitutional assembly and amend the charter by a vote of three-fourths of the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives voting separately.
Padilla's proposal, however, faced pushback from fellow senators.
CNN Correspondent Paige Javier contributed to this report.
