Former House Committee on Constitutional Amendments chairperson Alfredo Garbin Jr. on Tuesday took a jab at the senators for credit-grabbing the initiative to relax the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

“Masama ‘yung dating dahil pinalabas pa nila na sila ‘yung mangunguna. Samantalang ang nanguna nito for the longest sense–it’s long been the consensus of Congress of the House of Representatives na matagal na ‘tong dapat inaktuhan ‘yung economic amendments ng ating Constitution,” Garbin said in a press conference at the House of Representatives.

Garbin, a former representative of Ako-Bicol Partylist, made the remark a day after the Senate jumped on the bandwagon of Charter change after receiving timely advice from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri disclosed on Monday that Mr. Marcos asked the Senate to lead in reviewing the economic provisions of the Constitution in a meeting with Speaker Martin Romualdez last Tuesday, which led to the filing of the Resolution of Both Houses 6.

The concurrent resolution proposes amendments to Articles XII, XIV and XVI of the Charter.

Zubiri said he discussed with the President the senators’ concerns on the proposed amendment in the Charter via the people’s initiative, reportedly shepherded by the House.

A PI is one of the three modes for introducing amendments to the Constitution, the other two being through a Constituent Assembly and a Constitutional Convention.

Garbin, a petitioner for PI, slammed Zubiri for credit grabbing the House’s initiative, saying the Senate would not open its door to Cha-cha if not only schooled by Marcos.

“It should be told that the House of Representatives is really leading here [in economic amendments],” Garbin said.

During the 18th Congress, Garbin said the House passed RBH No.2, which proposed economic amendments to the Charter, but the Senate only sat on it.

“Now, in the 19th Congress, it’s still the same. They box it. They sit again on the [calls] for a constitutional convention to tackle the economic amendments to our Constitution,” Garbin added.

In December, House leaders announced their renewed attempt for Cha-cha, which is scheduled to roll this year, after the House’s initial preferred way of amending the Constitution, the con-con, languished in the Senate earlier last year.

Attempts to revamp the Charter had failed in the past Congress due to suspicions that the move was merely to extend government officials’ terms.

Romualdez has reassured that the objective of Cha-cha is to lift the “restrictive” economic restrictions on the entry of foreign capital and investments in the country and not the other way around.