Senator Robinhood 'Robin' Padilla on Monday said he will resign as a member of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) and go independent if the political party will not back his proposed constitutional reform.
In an interview after the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes held a hearing on charter change (cha-cha), Padilla said he would be pleased if PDP-Laban members would support him through Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) or Constitutional Convention (Con-con).
"Pero kung sasabihin sa akin ng partido na huwag natin suportahan ang charter-change, sa araw na iyon mag-resign na din ako at independent na ako," he added.
According to the Senator, the sole reason why he joined the party was due to charter change and federalism.
Padilla has been pushing for the amendment of the economic provision under the Philippine 1987 Constitution to lift the restrictions that prohibit foreign investors to invest in the country.
He earlier noted that economic provisions are "barriers responsible for the decline of the continuous decline of foreign direct investments," and that this "placed the country as one of the most restrictive economies by international standards."
Earlier, President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. said that the proposed cha-cha was not his priority. But the Senator remained firm to push for the ammendment despite Marcos' lack of support.
