MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Because the petition that was filed is outside the jurisdiction of the

Supreme Court (SC), the SC will not be stepping in to break an impasse on the manner that Congress will
be voting for Charter Change or Cha-Cha.

The SC en banc dismissed on Tuesday, February 6, the petition for a declaratory relief filed by law
professor Arturo de Castro, essentially asking the High Court to settle the conflicting views coming from
both Houses.

It was the wrong petition to file because the SC has no jurisdiction on declaratory reliefs.

“The Supreme Court has no original jurisdiction over Declaratory Relief actions under Rule 63; the
original jurisdiction over such actions is vested in the Regional Trial Court,” SC Spokesman Theodore Te
said in a news conference on Tuesday.

The Senate minority bloc is keen on filing a petition themselves, but it remains to be seen whether the
High Court will recognize the kind of petition they will file, and even if the right conditions will be met to
merit an action from the SC.

The SC said "its jurisdiction is limited to appellate review of Declaratory Relief judgments rendered by
the trial courts."

Impasse

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez wants joint voting, but the Senate insists it should be separate to
assert their voice as the Upper House.

Should joint voting proceed, their 24 votes would be drowned out by the nearly 300 votes of the Lower
House.
Alvarez has threatened to proceed to proposing amendments without the Senate if it does not want to
participate.

Leaders of both chambers met over dinner on January 24 and agreed that before they proceeded to
discussions on how to vote, they should first discuss the meat of the proposed amendments.

“The Supreme Court, as the final arbiter of constitutional questions is called upon to resolve the
constitutional issue of whether the House of Representatives alone may propose amendments to the
Constitution,” De Castro said in his petition