Voting 301 against 7, the House of Representatives approved on Tuesday House Bill 7352, which implements the Resolution of Both Houses 6 that calls for convening a constitutional convention or “Con-con” that would propose amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution.
Among the salient features of the bill is the seven-month term of office of the convention, from December 1, 2023 up to June 30, 2024.
Speaker Martin G. Romualdez, Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, and Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who chairs the committee on constitutional amendments, led 301 of the 314 House members in authoring and voting for the bill.
Romualdez said the Charter reform initiative aims to rewrite the “restrictive” economic provisions of the Constitution to enable the country to attract more foreign investments.
“We need more foreign capital to create additional job and income opportunities for our people. Increased investments will sustain our economic growth,” he said.
He said relaxing the Charter’s economic provisions would enhance the country’s investment and economic space.
Rodriguez said several business groups and Fitch Solutions, a unit of leading credit ratings and financial market analysis provider Fitch Ratings, have welcomed the House economic constitutional reform effort.
Meanwhile, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte appealed to senators to give Charter change a chance, after Senator JV Ejercito said there are only four to five senators who are supportive of the move.
Ejercito echoed an earlier statement of Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri that Charter change advocates do not have the numbers in the Upper Chamber.
Villafuerte is president of the 45-strong National Unity Party (NUP), the second biggest political bloc in the House whose members all voted for RHB 6 on third and final reading.
As one of the principal authors of the bill, Villafuerte said the Senate may start deliberating—and then vote soon enough—on its version of the House-backed proposal to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution.
This, Villafuerte said, is in the hope that the Commission on Elections would still have time to hold the balloting for delegates to the proposed Con-con simultaneously with the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections due on October 30.
In case the Charter Change proposal via the Con-con route indeed cannot muster enough votes in the Senate, “we in the House would respect such a decision by a majority of our senators and let this latest initiative on constitutional reform kick the bucket,” Villafuerte said.
Under HB 7352, Charter amendments to be endorsed by the proposed constitutional convention shall be submitted to the people for ratification in a plebiscite to be held not earlier than 60 days nor later than 90 days after the Con-con submits its report to the President and Congress.
The envisioned convention shall be composed of elected delegates, one from each legislative district, to be voted on Oct. 30, 2023.
The Con-con shall also have sectoral representatives, comprising 20 percent of the total number of delegates, to be appointed jointly by the Senate President and the House Speaker.
The appointed sectoral representatives shall include three retired members of the judiciary, three from the academe, three from the legal profession, two economists, and two each from the business sector, labor, urban poor, farmers and fisherfolk, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, veterans, cooperatives, senior citizens, and persons with disability, and such other sectors as the Senate President and House Speaker may determine.
The bill provides that convention delegates “must be of recognized probity, independence, nationalism, and patriotism,” and “with recognized knowledge and competence in the Constitution, and a deep understanding of the State and the principles which underlie its existence, organization, and activities, as well as of government and governance.”
A delegate must at least be 25 years of age on the day of his election or appointment, must be a college degree holder, a registered voter in his district, and a resident of such district at least one year before the election.
Those convicted by final judgment of a crime involving moral turpitude are not qualified to be elected or appointed to the convention.
The Commission on Elections shall issue implementing rules and regulations for the election of Con-con members. The Senate President and House Speaker shall appoint the appointive members within 15 days before the start of the convention.
Officers and members of all political parties or coalitions shall be prohibited from nominating, fielding, endorsing, supporting, or campaigning for any candidate for convention delegate.
No aspirant shall represent or allow himself/herself to be represented as a candidate of a political party/coalition. Any person holding public office, including members of the armed forces, shall be considered resigned upon the filing of his certificate of candidacy for con-con delegate.
Any person elected or appointed to the convention shall not be eligible to run in the first local or national elections after the ratification of the proposed amendments, or appointed to any government position while the convention is in session and within one year after its adjournment.
The Senate Secretary and House Secretary-General shall initially convene and preside over the con-con at 10 in the morning at the Philippine International Convention Center on Dec. 1, 2023, until it has elected its president and presiding officer.
A Con-con delegate shall enjoy the same parliamentary immunity accorded to a member of Congress.
The Senate, the House, and other government agencies shall make available personnel, facilities, equipment, or office space needed by the convention without hampering public service.
The Con-con shall submit its report to the President, Congress, and Comelec within 30 days after the completion of the proposed amendments, or on June 30, 2024.
Funding for the convention shall initially be charged against any available appropriations in the 2023 national budget and subsequently included in next year’s budget proposal.