HOUSE members on Monday expressed elation that the House of Representatives and the Senate have found common ground for future actions on what provisions to amend in the 1987 Constitution, after Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 was filed at the House, which is similar to RBH 6 filed at the Senate.
Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said this is the greatest significance of the latest development. “If we really look at it, the House and the Senate have found the middle ground, have found the common ground for future actions on what to amend. We’ve agreed on what the Senate has actually proposed and the House is also doing parallel efforts to go through the process of approving the same version,” he said.
Acidre said he has great faith that the Senate leadership will do its best to convince senators for the passage of RBH 6.
“To be honest, I’m a little bit more optimistic with the process in the Senate because the Senate version is actually authored by the leadership of the Senate. It was authored by the Senate President, by the Senate majority leader, by the pro-tempore, and of course the chairperson of the sub-committee. I’m sure that they will do a much better job than us here in Congress in convincing their colleagues,” he said.
Likewise, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund “Lray” Villafuerte Jr. said there should be further talks on how the House and the Senate can meet on this middle ground.
“I think that’s the best in the bicameral Congress. You know, these three provisions originated from them. So, I think when they proposed these three amendments, I know for a fact na pinag-aralan at pinag-isipan na nila ito. So I think if they delay it further, you know, dapat tanungin ng tao bakit gusto i-delay, di ba?,” he said.
RBH 7 is similar to the Senate’s RBH 6, which proposes amendments to Articles XII, XIV and XVI, focusing on the national patrimony, economy, education and general provisions of the charter.
Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said that RBH 7 talks of a constituent assembly to ensure that only the economic provisions as what the Senate had proposed will be tackled. A committee of the whole is also being eyed to hasten the process of amending the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution.
Villafuerte stressed that there should be an exhaustive discussions on the proposed changes for the people to better understand the need for an economic amendment in the Constitution.
Moreover, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Ty said there is nothing to be feared from revising the economic clauses of the Constitution, and emphasized that other countries regularly amend their constitution.
He cited Palawan Rep. Jose Alvarez’s earlier statement that only three out of 343 Korean businessmen invested in the country in 2023, with the 340 going to neighboring countries, specifically Vietnam.
