Seeking to avert a constitutional crisis, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that the Senate, as tasked by President Marcos, will take the lead in reviewing the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri personally filed Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 at the Senate proposing amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, particularly on Articles XII, XIV, and XVI. The resolution was signed by Zubiri, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, and Sen. Sonny Angara on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (Senate PRIB/Office of the Senate President)

In a press briefing on Monday, January 15, Zubiri said that the proposal subject of the People’s Initiative (PI) could have led to a constitutional crisis, "destabilizing our bicameralism and upsetting the system of checks and balances."

"While we respect and recognize the people as our sovereign, with the right to call for Constitutional change, we must guard against any attempt to revise the Constitution by exploiting our democratic process under the guise of a people’s initiative," Zubiri stated.

The Senate leader said he met with the President last Tuesday and raised the alarm related to the ongoing push for the People's Initiative (PI) to amend the existing Charter.

According to Zubiri, Marcos was not aware of the aim to diminish the power of the Senate.

Zubiri also mentioned that while the Constitution must be reviewed in keeping with the demands of the present and the possibilities of the future, "we believe that we must first exhaust all other avenues open to us, though policy-making and legislation."

According to him, even President is in agreement said that the PI is "too divisive."

"Sabi niya sa akin, at kay (House) Speaker (He told me and House Speaker), why doesn't the Senate take the lead in the discussions of the economic provisions and then you approve your version which the House (of Representatives) can adopt. That was the position of the President," Zubiri said.

This way, Zubiri said the bicameral nature of legislation can be preserved.

"So I hope that they would get the body language of the President," the Senate chief added.

Accordingly, during the meeting, Zubiri said the President himself is not keen on giving foreigners an upper hand in land ownership.

"We got the guide from the President... si President mismo ayaw nya na ang lupa ibigay sa foreigners, siya mismo nagsabi malabo yun (The President himself shunned the idea of giving foreigners land, he himself said that is absurd)," he pointed out.

"He said that, and I quote the President: this will give us problems in our housing program, it will increase tax rates and it will increase prices of land in the Philippines and he even cited some countries where there are foreign ownership na yung mga mismong locals ay hindi na po nakakaafford ng lupa doon (that even the locals could not afford buying land)," he said.

For this purpose, the Senate President said that Sen. Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara will be tasked to lead a subcommittee on constitutional amendments to tackle the issue.

According to Zubiri, the Senate needs a lawyer to tackle the resolution. Likewise, he appealed to Senator Robin Padilla, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes not to be offended by the sudden decision of the subcommittee for the said purpose.

Padilla's constitutional amendments panel is taking the lead Charter change talks in the Senate, but which some senators feel are geared towards changing the country's political landscape.

On the other hand, the subcommittee on constitutional amendments will tackle purely economic revisions.

Zubiri said the Senate is looking at finishing and adopting RBH6 – from the Senate’s side – before the next congressional recess.

Constitutional amendments

Right after the press conference, Zubiri filed the Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 proposing amendments to Articles XII, XIV and XVI of the 1987 Constitution, which he drafted together with Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda and Angara.

Here are the following proposals:

Section 11 of Article XII (National Patrimony and Economy) is amended to read as follows:

"No franchise, certificate, or any other form of authorization for the operation of a public utility shall be granted except to citizens of the Philippines or to corporations or associations organized under the laws of the Philippines, at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens, UNLESS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY LAW; nor shall such franchise, certificate, or authorization be exclusive in character or for a longer period than fifty years. Neither shall any such franchise or right be granted except under the condition that it shall be subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by the Congress when the common good so requires. The State shall encourage equity participation in public utilities by the general public. UNLESS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY LAW, the participation of foreign investors in the governing body of any public utility enterprise shall be limited to their proportionate share in its capital, and all the executive and managing officers of such corporation or association must be citizens of the Philippines."

Paragraph 2, Section 4 of Article XIV (Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture, and Sports), is amended to read as follows:

BASIC educational institutions, other than those established by religious groups and mission boards, shall be owned solely by citizens of the Philippines or corporations or associations at least sixty per centum of the capital of which is owned by such citizens. The Congress may, however, require increased Filipino equity participation in all educational institutions. The control and administration of educational institutions shall be vested in citizens of the Philippines, UNLESS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY LAW."

Paragraph 2, Section 11 of Article XVI (General Provisions), is amended to read as follows:

"Only Filipino citizens or corporations or associations at least seventy per centum of the capital of which is owned by such citizens shall be allowed to engage in the advertising industry, UNLESS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY LAW.

UNLESS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY LAW, the participation of foreign investors in the governing body of entities in such industry shall be limited to their proportionate share in the capital thereof, and all the executive and managing officers of such entities must be citizens of the Philippines."

The resolution must get a vote of three-fourths of all its members with each House voting separately. To be formally adopted in the Senate, the resolution only requires 18 affirmative votes both at the subcommittee and plenary levels.

Zubiri said that filing the resolution makes it clear that there are no other planned provisions or amendments on any other thing but purely economic in nature.

“Tatatlo lang yung topic dito and napakasimple, napakalinaw. So, eto po ay gagawin natin para sa ganun ay we preserve the bicameralism of both the House of Representatives and the Senate,” he added.

Zubiri said he sees no problem adopting the resolution before the next congressional recess.