Refusal of Congress to convene in joint session violates Constitution —ex-Concom member

One of the framers of the 1987 Constitution has called on members of Congress to fulfill their mandate by convening in a joint session to scrutinize President Rodrigo Duterte's martial law declaration in Mindanao.

Leaders of both Senate and the House of Representatives have thumbed down having a joint session to discuss Duterte’s martial law report, with both chambers opting for separate briefings regarding the ongoing offensive against ISIS-inspired Maute group in Marawi City from military and defense officials.

Justifying the arrangement, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Congress will only convene in joint session if it plans to revoke the martial law declaration or extend it.

Legal analyst Christian Monsod took exception to this view, saying Congress' refusal to convene in joint session "would be a violation of the constitutional mandate."

"The Congress has to go through the process. What about who are against? Are they silenced by dispensing with the assembly? For the sake of history, don't they need to record who voted for and who voted against?" said Monsod, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, in a text message.

Former Ateneo de Manila School of Government dean Antonio La Viña, meanwhile, said the Supreme Court was clear in the case involving the legality of martial law declaration in Maguindanao in December 2009 that Congress' duty to review the declaration is "automatic and therefore not optional."

"Otherwise, Congress will be guilty of negligence for not acting on something so critical for our country," La Viña said in a newspaper column on Tuesday.

Opposition senators have already asked the Senate to pass a resolution seeking for a joint session.

The Makabayan bloc would also do the same in the House. —KG, GMA News