Palace defers to Congress on party-list system issue

Malacañang on Monday deferred to Congress on how to address President Rodrigo Duterte’s concerns about the party-list system.

Duterte reportedly called for the abolition of the party-list system due to concerns that it had been infiltrated by sympathizers of communist rebels.

Some lawmakers, however, said it might be easier to amend the party-list law instead of rewriting the 1987 Constitution, which mandated the sectoral representation in Congress.

“We defer to the wisdom of Congress. Hindi naman po nagli-legislate ang Presidente. If that is the solution of some senators, number one, of course it has legal basis; number two it would still depend on them,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a news conference.

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Ferdinand Gaite said last week the abolition will only result in the “crackdown of representation for the poor and marginalized.” Gaite is a member of the Makabayan bloc of lawmakers whom Duterte accused of having links to the communist rebels.

At present, the House of Representatives is focused on amending the “restrictive" economic provisions of the Constitution in a bid to make the Philippines more attractive to foreign investors.

Senator Panfilo Lacson last Friday urged the Palace to be “a little bit more creative in accomplishing that objective without opening the floodgate to possibly tinker with the Constitution in its entirety.”

House constitutional amendments committee chairperson Alfredo Garbin said they would not touch the political sections of the nation’s charter amid speculation that the initiative might lead to a term extension for elective officials. — RSJ, GMA News