The Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes has formally ended the public hearings on Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 which seeks to relax restrictions on foreign ownership in public utilities, higher education and advertising.

Sen. Robinhood “Robin” Padilla, chairman of the constitutional panel, adjourned the hearing on Tuesday, August 27.

It was the subcommittee, headed by then Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, that first tackled the proposed changes as listed in Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6. Angara, however, has resigned from the Senate and took over as the secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Padilla, however, lamented that the committee failed to resolve the issue of whether the Senate and House of Representatives are supposed to vote jointly or separately in tackling Charter amendments.

“Aking gustong iparating sa ating mga kababayan na itong RBH na ginawa ng pagdinig ng ating kaibigan si Sen. Angara ay isasarado natin ito. Ia-adjourn natin ang pagdinig na ito, ginawan na namin ito ng pagdinig (I want to report to our people that I am terminating hearings on the resolution of both houses tackled by former Sen. Angara. We will adjourn this since hearings had already been conducted on this),” Padilla said.

"Hindi na natin kailangang umikot uli at gumastos uli at tanungin uli. Paulit-ulit na tanong pero babagsakan nito wala rin (We do not need to spend taxpayers' money just to ask the same questions. We have repeatedly touched on the issue but nothing has come out of it)," he added.

The senator said he will incorporate the findings of the subcommittee hearings to his committee report.

In terminating the hearings on RBH 6, the senator said the “chicken and egg” issue of whether the Senate and House will vote jointly or separately when tackling constitutional amendments remains.

Padilla said this was why he filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking its guidance on the matter.

"Katulad ito ng katanungan ano nauna, itlog o manok. Maghahain ng pagbabago ang mambabatas pero mauuwi sa wala sapagka’t walang kasagutan kung boboto ng magkasama o hiwalay ang member ng Kongreso (This is like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. Any proposal filed in Congress will be useless because there is no answer on whether both houses of Congress will vote jointly or separately),” he said.

“Ang masidhing damdamin ng inyong lingkod para makamit ang kasagutan ang siyang nagtulak para iakyat ko usapin sa Korte Suprema (My sentiments on this issue was the reason why I asked the Supreme Court for guidance),” Padilla clarified.