Senate President Vicente Sotto III announced that he plans to meet with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to discuss how the Sim Card Registration Bill can be saved after it is vetoed or rejected by President Rodrigo Duterte.
According to Sotto, lawmakers can reverse or override Duterte’s veto power to continue enacting the SIM card registration proposal.
If the veto power is not overridden, lawmakers will once again file such a proposal in the next Congress.
But suppose the president’s veto power can be overridden. In that case, someone can file a petition with the Supreme Court to declare the provision on social media unconstitutional, which is why Duterte rejected it.
“I was going to call Executive Secretary Medialdea. I will tell him, that the way to go about this is that both Houses of Congress overturn the veto of the President and then the provision that they dislike can be questioned in the [Supreme Court] and ask the Supreme Court to declare it unconstitutional, “the Senate leader.
Sotto wants to save Sim Card Registration Act that Duterte repealed
“But then again, the prepaid SIM cards must be registered already because that is part of the law. It will become a law, minus the provision that Malacañang does not want … And we can do it by May 23 if the President agrees with my decision and I am going to call him now to tell him my suggestion,” added Sotto.
Under the 1987 Constitution, a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress is required to override the president’s veto power over the bill.
On Friday, Malacañang said that Duterte rejected the proposal because it still needs to be studied carefully.
Presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar expressly referred to the provision on the inclusion of social media as saying that there are not enough rules that can be a way to violate the rights of the public.
Sotto lamented Duterte’s veto of the proposal approved by Congress because he said it would help curb cell phone-using crimes such as bombings and scams.
“Ayos. Tuloy ang mga bombings and blackmail and scams using prepaid sims,” Sotto reacted in a tweet when Duterte vetoed the proposal.
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