The remaining months of the 18th Congress have been programmed by the House of Representatives at achieving what its predecessors failed to do -- the amendment of the 1987 Constitution after 33 years.

This was disclosed by Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Reform, even as he called on members of the Senate to “keep an open mind” to proposals seeking to amend the economic provisions of the Charter.

Garbin assured senators that the Lower Chamber will concentrate on lifting restrictive economic provisions of the Charter.

“We are not proposing to open the basic law of the land to revisions. We want to limit ourselves to provisions relating to the economy and national patrimony. We will not touch the political sections of the Charter,” said Garbin.

The partylist lawmaker said his committee will start discussing on Wednesday the bills proposing to amend the economic provisions of  the Charter.

“The introduction of the phrase ‘unless otherwise provided by law’ in those restrictive provisions, as proposed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, will give Congress the flexibility and leeway to alter the restrictions when the economic situation requires it,” said Garbin.

Such proposals were originally present in a bill authored by former  Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr. when he was the speaker of the 16th Congress.

“It’s long overdue. The support and the clamor are there,” Garbin said.

He is optimistic that for the first time in the 33-year history of the 1987 Constitution’s existence, “economic Chacha can succeed.”

“For the first time in the 33-year history of our Constitution, we, in the House, see that economic Cha-cha can succeed, if only our counterparts in the Senate will keep an open mind on it and agree to consider relevant proposals from us and from their own colleagues,” he said.

A “minor tweaking” of the Charter’s language “will improve the investment climate and generate much needed investments and jobs to counteract the economic contractions caused by the pandemic.

According to Garbin  the most recent proposal in the Senate came from Senators Ronald dela Rosa and Francis Tolentino, while Senators Richard Gordon and Sherwin Gatchalian had earlier authored similar measures.

He said   Speaker Velasco has given the commitment that the House would confine itself to economic Cha-cha

“The Speaker’s assurance will serve as our word of honor. In compliance with the Speaker’s instruction, my committee will not entertain any political amendment proposal,” he said.

He said the insertion of the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in the economic provisions “means that the present limitations will remain, but Congress will be empowered to relax or lift them in the future, depending on the country’s economic situation, to draw more foreign investments that will generate jobs and income for our people.” 

“Because of the extensive damage the health crisis that is still raging has caused on our economy, we will need foreign funds to recover from the pandemic in the next two to three years,” Garbin said.

He added that economists are projecting that due to the deep economic contraction that it has suffered, the country will begin to achieve positive growth only in 2022.

“That is when we hope we already have the constitutional means in place to attract more foreign funds into the country,” he said.