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Disagreements between Senate and Lower House to foil Charter change bid, Defensor warns
Disagreements between Senate and Lower House to foil Charter change bid, Defensor warns
The House of Representatives’ bid to speed up the adoption of its Charter change resolution might just be a waste of time and effort unless Congress resolves immediately two contentious issues raised in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Anakalusugan Partylist Rep. Michael Defensor cautioned the House leadership against rushing plenary action on Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 that proposes amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
“I believe that in rushing Cha-cha, the House is putting the cart before the horse. The House should first resolve with the Senate at least two contentious issues,” said Defensor in a statement released Tuesday, February 16.
“One is whether the two chambers need to approve a joint resolution formally convening themselves into a constituent assembly before one or both of them can tackle any amendment proposal.The other issue is whether the two chambers vote separately,” explained Defensor.
He added: “It is my impression that the Senate is of the view that a joint resolution is needed, while the House thinks otherwise.”
The Lower House is expected to launch Tuesday the plenary debates on RBH No. 2, a week after the legislative proposals drew unanimous approval of the Committee on Constitutional Reforms chaired by Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin.
Authored by Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco, RBH No. 2 introduces amendments to Articles 12 14 and 16 of the 1987 Constitution. It calls for the insertion of the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in the said sections that contain economic provisions of the Charter.
If approved by Congress and eventually ratified in a plebiscite, Congress will now have the authority to pass laws that would either lift or relax the constitutional restrictions to the entry, participation or control of foreign investors to various economic activities in the country.
However, Defensor disputed alleged claims by the constitutional reforms panel that its approval of RBH No. 02 is already considered an action of the constitutional assembly.
“As for the voting issue, the Senate says it is separate. On the part of the House, there are divergent views on this issue,” stressed the senior administration lawmaker. “It takes two to Cha-cha. Unless the House convinces the Senate to get on board its Cha-cha express, the House would just be wasting precious time, effort and taxpayers’ money,” he stated.