Sen. Imee Marcos received backlash after accusing officials in the administration of her brother, President Marcos, and members of Congress of plotting to amend the 1987 Constitution to extend terms and raise the minimum age for the presidency.
Senators Raffy Tulfo, Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate Minority Leader
Vicente Sotto III slammed on Monday, May 25, the video presentation of
Sen. Imee Marcos accusing members of the Senate minority of a supposed
Charter change (Cha-cha) conspiracy.
Marcos later withdrew the video presentation as senators from the minority moved to have it stricken off the Senate record.
Tulfo
branded the video presentation as “hao siao” of fake due to lack of
evidence and lamented that the Senate was becoming a laughingstock
because of bickering.
As a media practitioner for 30 years, Tulfo said all exposes must be backed up with evidence.
For his part, Zubiri
said the video should not have been presented on the Senate floor,
saying it was “horrible propaganda” and that airing it during plenary
was unparliamentary.
He noted the video was meant to stir intrigue and attract publicity.
Sotto said the country
needs “character change” and not Cha-cha. He denied discussing proposals
for Cha-cha and maintained that he consistently opposed moves to amend
the Constitution since becoming a senator.