THE House of Representatives is expected to approve Speaker Lord Allan Velasco’s bill seeking to amend the “restrictive” economic provisions of the Constitution on third and final reading before session adjourns sine die on June 4.
“That’s really the Speaker’s timeline,” said Rep. Alfredo Garbin (PL, Ako Bicol), chair of the House committee on constitutional amendments who is one of the sponsors of Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2 on the floor.
Garbin said the plan to put the measure to a vote for passage on second reading next week was discussed during his meeting with the Speaker and majority leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez before the House resumed its session last Monday.
Garbin said the remaining seven interpellators will be given until next week to finish their discussions.
He said the Speaker wants the measure transmitted to the Senate before the break to allow senators to discuss the proposal since many of them remain opposed to the measure.
Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte (NP, Camarines Sur) said he is “perplexed” that the House leadership still insists on spending the chamber’s time on Charter Change (Cha-Cha) when it should be devoting it in helping the government defeat COVID-19 and revitalize the economy.
“We should now start our stimulus program from the ground up. The Congress has already passed several stimulus measures through the Republic Act (RA) No. 11465 or Bayanihan 2 and other laws for both small and big businesses. We should pour financial resources this time with helping Filipino families rebuild their pandemic-hit lives instead of wasting our time with reviving this unproductive Cha-Cha exercise,” Villafuerte said.
Velasco’s Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2 seeks to liberalize the restrictive economic constitutional provisions to allow Congress to enact laws that will free up the economy to foreign investors and provide much-needed economic relief to Filipinos in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It seeks to insert the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” to specific provisions of the Constitution, namely five amendments to Article XII (National Patrimony and Economy), one amendment to Article XIV (Education, Science, and Technology), and one amendment to Article XVI (General Provisions). The Constitution limits foreign ownership of land and businesses to only 40 percent, and reserves the other 60 percent to Filipino citizens or corporations.
The committee on constitutional amendments chaired by Garbin has already excluded from the amendment Article 12, Section 7 pertaining to foreign ownership of land in the Philippines, which states that “no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain.”
LEONEN IMPEACHMENT
The House of Representatives last night referred to the committee on justice the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Associate Justice Mario Victor Leonen, but this will not be among the priorities before session adjourns sine die on June 4.
Garbin, a vice chair of the justice panel, said tackling the impeachment was not among the priorities discussed during his meeting with Velasco and Romualdez.
Garbin, who chairs the committee on constitutional amendments, said the Speaker wanted the measure referred to the panel just to comply with the plenary’s ministerial duty as required by the Constitution.
Romualdez, who chairs the committee on rules, said the plenary referred the complaint to the justice panel after Iloilo City Rep. Julienne “Jam” Baronda moved during the hearing of the rules panel yesterday that the matter be included in the calendar of business.
Section 3, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution mandates the House to act on a verified complaint for impeachment filed by any of its member or by any citizen.
The justice panel, after hearing and by a majority vote of all its members, shall submit its report to the House within 60 session days from the referral, together with the corresponding resolution.
The complaint was filed by Edwin Cordevilla, secretary general of the Filipino League of Advocates for Good Government (FLAGG) and was endorsed by Ilocos Sur Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba, who is a cousin of defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
It was filed through the help of lawyer Larry Gadon after Marcos’ camp failed to force Leonen to inhibit from the electoral protest case he filed against Vice President Leni Robredo who has already won the case with finality.
Leonen is accused of betrayal of public trust for failing to file his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) for 15 years during his tenure as a lecturer at the University of the Philippines.
The complaint also accused Leonen of culpable violation of the Constitution for allegedly failing to dispose of at least 37 SC cases within 24 months as mandated by Sec 15 (1), Article VII, in relation to Section 16, Article III of the Constitution, “which mandates the prompt action and speedy disposition of cases.”
It likewise accused Leonen of “arbitrarily” delaying the resolution of cases pending before him as chair of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) since October 2019.
By failing to act on the cases pending before him in both the Supreme Court and the HRET, the complaint said Leonen has “clearly” betrayed public trust, stressing that his “incompetence and inefficiency, has caused the erosion of the public’s faith in our judicial system.”
