Approval of RBH 7 eyed this week
THE House of Representatives will open plenary debates today on Resolution of Both Houses No. 7 seeking amendments to “restrictive” economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution to meet the leadership’s target of approving the measure on second reading on Wednesday.
“In plenary, the proponents of the economic Charter changes will defend their proposals.
The plan is to have three days of debates, with the second-reading vote set shortly after the termination of discussions and the period for amendments on the third day,” said Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales of Pampanga, a principal author of the joint resolution.
Once the measure is approved on second reading, lawmakers will proceed to the period of amendments so that RBH No. 7 can be approved on third and final reading before Congress adjourns session for the Lenten break.
The House, convened as the Committee of the Whole House, last week approved and endorsed the approval of RBH No. 7 to the plenary “without amendment” to expedite the passage of the measure, which is almost identical to the Senate’s Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 filed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Juan Edgardo Angara and Loren Legarda.
Gonzales said he expects the plenary deliberations to be quicker than the proceedings at the committee level, where six days of marathon hearings were held to allow resource persons and experts to give their views on the proposal.
House members have been urging senators to pass RBH No. 6 before Congress goes on its Lenten break this month, as Zubiri earlier promised after he announced that President Marcos Jr. has tasked the Senate to take the lead in amending the Constitution.
Zubiri has also said that the President prefers that the plebiscite on the proposed amendments to the Charter be held next year simultaneous with the midterm elections to save public funds, which the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has estimated at P13 billion.
However, the House leadership prefers to have the measure approved by both houses of Congress this month so that it could be sent to the Comelec as soon as possible for the holding of a plebiscite possibly by the middle of the year, pointing out that holding it alongside the 2025 midterm elections would only “politicize” the issue.
In discussing Charter revisions, the House leadership has said it would adopt the mode proposed by the late constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas by passing RBH No.7 like an ordinary bill but using the constitutional vote requirement of three-fourths.
The Constitution, it said, does not expressly say if the House and the Senate should vote jointly or separately.
On Friday, Speaker Martin Romualdez expressed confidence that the Senate would be able to obtain the needed 18 votes, or three-fourths of all its members, to adopt the economic Charter change proposals, saying the upper chamber “has always lived up to the challenge.”
The House leader was reacting to Zubiri’s statement that getting the required 18 votes in the Senate for the economic amendment proposals “is a big challenge” but that “it’s not impossible.”
Gonzales said the ratification of the proposed “amendments will immediately send a powerful signal to investors that we want to attract more foreign investments in these sectors of the economy by changing those limitations down the road.”
“It will also greatly help our beloved President, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., in convincing foreign investors to invest in our country,” said the administration lawmaker, a member of the ruling Lakas-CMD.
RBH No. 6 and No. 7 are both titled “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 XII, XIV and XVI,” pertaining to public services, basic education, and advertising.
House proponents of the measure seek to lift the 40 percent limit on foreign ownership in the three sectors to attract more foreign direct investments to the country and create more jobs for Filipinos by adding the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” to the three constitutional provisions —Section 11 of Article XII (National Patrimony and Economy), Section 4 of Article XIV (Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture, and Sports) and Section 11 of Article XVI (General Provisions).
The only difference between the House and the Senate’s version is the provision found in RBH No. 6 which expressly states that the voting on the amendments should be undertaken separately by the two chambers because the Constitution, while requiring a three-fourths vote of all members of Congress, is silent on how the voting should be done.