In the wake of the Lower House's proposal to hold a dialogue with the Senate and convene themselves as a Constituent Assembly (ConAss), Senator Edgardo J. Angara today said that he is open for such a dialogue as long as the Senate is assured of a significant and valued involvement in talks leading to the amendment of the charter.

"It is theoretically possible that the Speaker already has 192 signatures in his pocket. But even if he has 250 total signatories coming from the members of the House, I do not think that makes any difference in terms of legality, as long as the Senate is not involved in the making of the change," Angara stressed.

Angara pointed out that if a simple legislative work- such as renaming a street or a school- entails painstaking debate and casting of votes, then all the more should the entire legislative branch debate on amending the charter.

"Even in renaming a street or a barangay, the House and the Senate deliberate separately. In this case, we are talking about constitutional change. All the more that we should debate on it separately and comprehensively," Angara continued.

Angara said that about 23 senators signed a resolution opposing a proposal which says that only one House can effect drastic change of the constitution without taking into account the votes of the Senate.

"I do not know of any Senator who has affixed his signature to the Speaker's proposal because that is almost suicide," Angara said.

"How can you effect charter change through constituent assembly without the other House participating? That is legally and logically unthinkable. And I would be hard put to think that the Supreme Court will allow constitutional change without the participation of the Senate," Angara continued.