No surprise here.

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved on third and final Monday, March 6 Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No.6, which calls for the creation of a constitutional convention (con-con) for the purpose of introducing amendments to the 1987 Constitution, or Charter change (Cha-cha).

A total of 301 House members voted in the affirmative on RBH No.6 during the conduct of nominal voting. Six voted in the negative, while one abstained.

House Speaker and Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez, who presided over plenary session Monday afternoon, declared the measure's third-reading passage. With the vote, the proposal for a con-con would now be essentially endorsed to the Senate.

He described the passage of the measure as "historic".

It was only last Feb. 28, or less than a week ago, when RBH No.6 was passed on second reading.

In total, the con-con measure was approved by the lower chamber after just three days worth of plenary debates.

Romualdez, one of the principal authors of the resolution, said the House aims to limit its Charter rewriting initiative to the “restrictive” economic provisions of the basic law “in the hope that the changes would pave the way for the country to attract more foreign investments".

“We need additional investments that would create more job and income opportunities for our people. We need increased capital to sustain our economic growth momentum,” he said.

Just a few minutes before nominal voting, the office of the Speaker somewhat foreshadowed the result when it released a statement saying that "at least 300 members" of the House signified their intention to be co-authors of the resolution.

The release of this statement coincided with the conduct of an all-party caucus in the House that was attended by Romualdez, Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe, and Committee on Constitutional Amendments Chairman and Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, among others.

“We now have 300 House members as co-authors of RBH No.6, and more are signifying their intention to be co-authors. This means we now have not 2/3 or 3/4 votes, but more than 93 percent of total House membership in solid support of the con-con proposal,” Dalipe said.

The House currently has 314 members.

Entering negative votes during nominal voting were Liberal Party (LP) stalwarts Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman, Basilan lone district Rep. Mujiv Hataman, Camarines Sur 3rd district Rep. Gabriel Bordado; and Makabayan solons ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel.

The six were the same solons who voted against the passage of another controversial measure--the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF)--on third and final reading last year.

Con-con mode

The con-con is one of three ways by which Cha-cha can be carried out. The two other modes are a constituent assembly (con-ass) and people’s initiative (PI).

For the current 19th Congress, the Cha-cha proponents are pushing for a "hybrid" con-con that would tap both elected and appointed delegates.

It's the delegates' task to come up with possible revisions to the existing Charter.

Last March 1, Rodriguez sponsored on the floor House Bill (HB) No.7352, or the proposed Act implementing RBH No.6. In his sponsorship speech, he said the proposed hybrid con-con will be composed of 251 elected delegates and 63 appointed delegates, for a total of 314.

The election of delegates is being penciled on Oct. 30, 2023--same day as the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE)

Essentially the partner bill of the con-con resolution, HB No.7352 is also expected to breeze through the House.