HOUSE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE OKAYS PROPOSED ECONOMIC AMENDMENTS TO CONSTITUTION

THE House of Representatives, constituting itself as the Committee of the Whole, on Wednesday approved Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7, which proposes amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

RBH7 was approved after six days of committee deliberations comprising a variety of resource persons and experts, including former Cabinet members, former lawmakers, academics, Filipino educators and professionals based abroad, former Supreme Court justices, economists, and framers of the 1987 Constitution.

Deputy Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, who was designated majority leader of the committee, moved to terminate the hearing.

He then presented a motion to approve RBH No. 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.

The Committee approved its report and affirmed its vote on RBH No. 7.

During a news conference earlier in the day, Gonzales said the House is scheduled to start plenary debates on the proposed amendments on Monday.

“We will target second reading approval of RBH No. 7 next Wednesday,” Gonzales 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

RBH No. 7 replicates RBH No. 6, introduced by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Loren Legarda and Juan Edgardo Angara.

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 XIV.

RBH No. 6 and RBH No. 7 also restate the provision of the Constitution that Congress may propose amendments “upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members.”

During the hearing of the Committee of the Whole, former senator Gregorio Honasan said it was time to amend the Constitution.

“For our nation to continue its journey toward rising among its neighbors, it is imperative to review the fundamental laws that will drive and propel much-needed economic growth,” Honasan told lawmakers.

Honasan said recalibrating the restrictive provisions on foreign ownership of public utilities, basic education, and on the advertising industry, would greatly help raise the country’s gross domestic product.

The former secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said the Charter should be amended to adapt to the economic challenges posed by evolving geopolitical dynamics, rapid technological advancements, and global trade within digital economies.

He said the three proposed economic amendments, together with economic policy reforms through legislation, “will propel the Philippines to be on par with neighboring countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand” in attracting foreign investments.

Honasan said if we don’t change, we will be left behind, and if we remain closed to the world, the Filipinos will suffer.

“Huwag po tayong matakot sa pagbabago,” Honasan said.