The House of Representatives, acting as a Committee of the Whole House, on Wednesday approved on first reading the resolution proposing amendments to the Constitution’s restrictive economic provisions.
The committee voted to endorse the amendment proposals contained in Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 after six days of hearings.
The House is poised to approve RBH 7 on second reading next week, Deputy Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II said.
“Based on the timeline shared with me, [March] 11, 12, 13 will be thesecond reading…I guess it will be approved on second reading by Wednesday next week,” Gonzales told reporters.
Meanwhile, Senate President Juan Miguel yesterday described as a “big challenge” the passing of Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 – identicalto the House’s RBH 7 except for the manner of voting by Congress—which seeks to amend three restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
Reacting to the statements of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Senator Cynthia Villar that there are seven or eight senatorsagainst Charter change, Zubiri admitted it’s a challenge, as the votes would be enough to junk the measure in the upper chamber.
Zubiri noted that the bickering between House members and senators is one factor that triggered “trust issues” in the Senate.
“I told the President about it (challenge),” Zubiri told reporters in a media briefing, but stressed he wasn’t saying it’s impossible.
Also, the number of senators who signed a statement of support for Zubiri rose to 17 after Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Robin Padilla, and Ramon Revilla Jr. inked the resolution.
Rumors had swirled that Estrada, being the most senior senator, would replace Zubiri in a supposed coup, which he later denied.
At the House, lawmakers heard the testimonies of several resourcepersons and experts, including former Cabinet members, formerlawmakers, academics, Filipino educators, professionals based abroad, former Supreme Court justices, economists, and framers of the 1987 Constitution.
House members exchanged views with the experts and resource persons during the Committee of the Whole House deliberations.
Deputy Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, who was designated majority leader of the committee, moved for terminating the hearings.
He then presented a motion to approve RBH 7, which embodies the proposed amendments.
Shortly after, Majority Leader and Zamboanga City Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe, who was presiding over the hearing, declared the resolution approved.
Dalipe, Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga and Deputy Speaker David Suarez of Quezon, who are the principal authors of RBH 7, alternately presided over the six days of marathon hearings that started last Feb. 26.
Before Dalipe declared the suspension of today’s Committee of the Whole House session, he thanked all experts and resource persons for sharing their time and expertise with the panel.
“I am sure that your valuable insights will be very helpful to the members of the House,” Dalipe said.
The committee approved its report and affirmed its vote on RBH 7.
At a news briefing Wednesday morning, Gonzales, the committee’s majority leader, said the House is scheduled to start plenary debates on the proposed amendments on Monday.
“We will target second-reading approval of RBH 7 next Wednesday,” he said.
He said the House is still going by its timeline of finally approving the amendment proposals before Congress goes on its Holy Week break on March 23.
“I don’t know about the Senate,” he added.
Resource persons in yesterday’s hearing included former senator Gregorio Honasan, former finance secretary Margarito Teves, Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Jesus Domingo, and Finance Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon.
RBH 7 is almost an exact reproduction of RBH 6, introduced in the Senate by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Loren Legarda and Juan Edgardo Angara.
RBH 6 and RBH 7 are both entitled, “A Resolution of Both Houses of Congress proposing amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, particularly on Articles Xll, XlV, and XVl.”
The proposed House and Senate changes are on the grant of legislative franchises to and ownership (60-40) of public utilities in Article Xll, ownership of basic educational facilities (60-40) in Article XlV, and ownership of advertising firms (70-30) in Article XVl.
The suggested principal amendments are the insertion of the phrase, “unless otherwise provided by law,” which would empower Congress to lift or relax present economic restrictions in the nation’s basic law, and the addition of the qualifier “basic” in Article XlV.
RBH 7 and RBH 6 also restate the provision of the Constitution that Congress may propose amendments “upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members.”