As long as the amendments to the 1987 Constitution are limited to economic provisions, amending the Charter under the present Congress is “not impossible”, according to Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera.
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Herrera added to the list of House leaders who were convinced that there is time for Congress to carry out the economic Charter change.
“Kilala nyo naman kami sa Kongreso kung kailangang naming ipasa, ipapasa namin. (You know us in Congress, if we need to pass a law, we will pass it) You’ve seen us how we worked till the wee hours of the morning on a number of occasions to ensure that we pass the national budget,” she said in a radio interview.
“Nagagawa naman namin na magpasa ng batas kung kinakailangan kaya hindi ko sya nakikita na imposible pagdating sa pagbabago ng economic provision ng Konstitusyon.”
(We can pass laws if we ought to, that’s why I don’t see that it is impossible when it comes to amending the economic provision of the Constitution.)
Herrera expressed the House leadership’s commitment that they will solely focus on revising the economic provisions of the 34-year old Charter as provided under Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2, principally authored by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.
Velasco’s RBH No. 2 seeks to add the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” to several sections of the Constitution which restrict foreign ownership of land, natural resources, public utilities, media, and advertising.
“No amendment outside RBH No. 2 will be entertained,” Herrera said. "I will not support any move that is outside RBH No. 2.”
The House leader said economic Cha-cha has long been overdue.
“Mahigit 30 years na ang Konstitusyon, napakarami nang antiquated laws that need to be changed to make them attuned with the times,” she said.
(The Constitution is over 30 years, there are many antiquated laws that need to be changed to make them attuned with the times.)
Herrera said the Cha-cha deliberations are expected from January to December this year and that the plebiscite is expected to be conducted together with the 2022 national elections.
She said they will only insert the phrase ‘unless otherwise provided by law’ "to give the next Congress some elbow room to amend the restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution."
“Only after the people approved the one-line amendment in a plebiscite will Congress can pass an enabling law for the changes in the economic provisions,” she said.
In a Viber message, La Union 2nd District Rep. Sandra Eriguel, chairperson of the House Committee on Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Diplomacy, expressed confidence that economic Cha-cha is possible this 18th Congress.
"I join the leaders of various political parties that compose the majority in the House of Representatives in their declaration of support to the proposal of Speaker Lord Allan Velasco to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Philippine Constitution,” she said.
"In my estimation, there is still enough time if the House and the Senate will limit the discussion solely on the economic provisions of the Constitution as proposed by Speaker Velasco in Resolution of Both Houses No. 2.”
RBH No. 2 specifically aims to revise certain economic provisions of the 34-year old Constitution, particularly Articles XII (National Patrimony and Economy), XIV (Education, Science, Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports) and XVI (General Provisions).
Under RBH No. 2, Velasco proposed that the constitutional limits on foreign ownership of land, natural resources, schools, media and public utilities be lifted to ensure the flow of foreign investments into the country.
Velasco’s measure provides that by a vote of three-fourths of all its members, the Senate and the House of Representatives voting separately, could propose amendments to Articles XII and XIV and XVI of the 1987 Constitution.