Solon on Ping’s ‘Cha-cha-is-dead’ remark: Lacson not the Senate

An administration congressman on Wednesday sought to downplay Senator Panfilo Lacson's remark that the Duterte administration's proposed Charter change had no chance of getting support from the Senate.

Leyte Representative Vicente "Ching" Veloso indicated that Lacson could not speak for all senators as far as the proposed shift to a federal system of government was concerned.

"Well, nasa kanya (Lacson) na 'yon," Leyte Representative Vicente "Ching" Veloso said in an interview on "News to Go" on Wednesday.

"But remember, just as I am not the House of Representatives, with due respect sa kaibigan kong si Senator Lacson, Senator Ping is not the Senate," he added.

Veloso said the Senate and the House of Representatives were currently "bridging the gap" through efforts led by Senator Aquilino Pimentel III.

"Ang guidance sa amin is sinimulan na nga namin kahapon, itong si former Senate President Pimentel is taking the initiative of bridging the gap with the two houses," Veloso said. —Margaret Claire Layug/NB, GMA News

"And kami, individually, mga congressmen, eh maghahanap kami ng mga makakausap namin na Senador," he added.

Pimentel is the president of Duterte's party, PDP-Laban.

Lacson's earlier said at a news forum that the proposed Cha-cha was "just waiting to be cremated.”

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo filed on Tuesday a resolution expressing the sense of the House for a constituent assembly that would vote separately in proposing amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

However, some senators remained wary of whether or not House members would stick to the resolution once the constituent assembly had been convened to propose changes to the constitution. —NB, GMA News