House panel to address Cha-Cha proposals after SONA

Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez vowed Monday to immediately act on Charter Change (Cha-Cha) proposals amid the pandemic once President Duterte delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“I will call a virtual meeting of our committee possibly within the first two weeks of our session to tackle the proposals of our 1,489 town mayors and other pending measures,” said Rodriguez, chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments.

He was referring to the two Cha-Cha proposals emanating from the League of Municipalities, which groups town mayors throughout the Philippines. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced the existence of such proposals Friday.

The second regular session of the 18th Congress will start in the morning of July 27. The afternoon is devoted to President Duterte’s fifth SONA, which he will deliver before a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The town mayors' proposals are the institutionalization of the so-called Mandanas ruling of the Supreme Court (SC) on internal revenue allotments (IRA) of local government units (LGUs) and the lifting of restrictions on foreign investment in businesses currently limited to Filipinos.

He said the Mandanas ruling expands the basis for the computation of IRA to include collections not only of the Bureau of Internal Revenue but also the customs duties collected by the Bureau of Customs, a part of taxes collected in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, taxes from the exploitation of national wealth, excise tax on tobacco products, other taxes provided in the National Internal Revenue Code and franchise taxes.

It is called the Mandanas ruling because the case questioning the basis for the IRA was filed by Batangas Gov. Hermilando ‘Dodo’ Mandanas, he said.

“The IRA allotments for the LGUs will be significantly increased which are needed by the LGUs to address the COVID-19 pandemic and other local development programs and strengthen local autonomy in our country, " Rodriguez noted.

“As for the lifting or relaxation of restrictions on foreign investment and even ownership of businesses, there are already Resolutions filed in the Committee by some Representatives," he added.

“Especially this time when we need more foreign investments and to invite more foreign businesses relocating from China, in order to provide much-needed jobs for our people, this amendment is worth considering," Rodriguez said. 

The current Constitution is 33 years old.