WITH 301 votes against six and one abstention, the House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a resolution calling for a constitutional convention (con-con) that would propose amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution to create more jobs and generate income
to support the pro-poor programs of the government.
Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 is principally authored by Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” M. Dalipe, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte, Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who chairs the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments; and the Kapatiran Party.
Speaker Romualdez 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,” Speaker Romualdez said.
He reiterated that investment reform by way of tweaking the Constitution’s economic provisions could be the “final piece in the puzzle” of improving the country’s economic and investment environment.
The committee on constitutional amendments endorsed RBH No. 6 after conducting extensive public hearings and consultations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Through the resolution, the House and the Senate resolve to call a con-con “for the purpose of proposing amendments to the economic provisions, or revision of, the 1987 Constitution.”
The resolution notes that among the three modes of proposing amendments to the Charter, the calling of a convention “would be the most transparent, exhaustive, democratic, and least divisive means of implementing constitutional reforms.”
