DESPITE President Marcos Jr.’s assurance that Charter change is not a priority of his administration, the House of Representatives yesterday approved on third and final reading a resolution calling for the convening of a constitutional convention (con-con) to introduce amendments to the 35-year-old Constitution.
Congressmen voted 301-6 with one abstention in favor of Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 which is principally authored by Speaker Martin Romualdez, majority leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, and Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who is the chairperson of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments.
The measure, which expresses the Lower House’s intent to have the Constitution amended or revised, was approved amid the appeal of the militant Makabayan bloc to defer its approval while the week-long transport strike is ongoing.
“The nation and our constituents are more concerned now on how to help public utility (PUV) drivers ensure their jobs and livelihood that are about to be phased out by the supposed modernization of PUVs. It would be the height of callousness and insensitivity for the House to continue deliberating on Cha-cha that is not even among the top concerns of Filipinos while commuters are stranded, and drivers are to go jobless. Charter change will not solve their problems,” the Makabayan bloc said.
Rep. Arlene Brosas (PL, Gabriela), who was among those who voted against the measure, complained the House leadership even moved the annual all-women session to March 13 to give way to voting on RBH No. 6.
“The all-women session is supposed to be a build-up activity for the upcoming celebration of the International Working Women’s Day on March 8. It is ironic that the Congress would set aside such important day to pave the way for the immediate passage of the anti-people Cha-cha which the vast majority of Filipino women have opposed,” Brosas said.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and the Makabayan bloc earlier questioned the haste by which the House is pushing for Cha-cha, casting doubt on the President’s statement that amending the Constitution is not among his administration’s priorities.
RBH No. 6 states 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.”
“Extensive studies show that particular economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution need to be revisited and recrafted so that the Philippines may become globally competitive and attuned with the changing times,” the resolution stated.
It likewise cites a petition, filed by the Kapatiran party-list, for an indirect initiative under RA No. 6735, otherwise known as the Initiative and Referendum Act, urging the House of Representatives to pass a bill calling for a con-con.
Romualdez, a first cousin of the President, assured the public that the resolution only proposes revisions to the economic provisions of the Constitution “to create more jobs and generate income to support the pro-poor programs of the government.”
The Speaker 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.”
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.
Rodriguez’s 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.”
While the resolution has already been adopted, the House will still have to approve an implementing bill that would pave the way for the convening of the con-con, a measure which is still being deliberated upon on the floor.
Among the provisions of the House Bill No. 7532 on con-con include the composition of 316 delegates who will receive a P10,000 daily allowance each and their election in October 2023.
The envisioned con-con would be a hybrid assembly with elected and appointed members, with the election and appointment of delegates to be held simultaneously with the October 30, 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
The details of the election and appointment of con-con delegates would depend on the version of the implemented bill that will be passed by the House and sent to the Senate.
Lawmakers were supposed to continue the floor deliberations on HBN 7352 but Rep. Raoul Manuel (PL, Kabataan) moved that the discussions be postponed, saying it would be better for the House to just wait for the Senate’s action on the con-con resolution first “because we’re not sure if they also want it.”
Manuel likewise lamented that the House was able to approve a P10,000 per day allowance for would-be con-con delegates “when we can’t quickly discuss the need for ‘ayuda’ or wage hike.”
The militant lawmaker also said he believes there were not enough warm bodies on the floor for the House to conduct business since according to his estimate, there were only about 40 lawmakers participating in the session out of the 312 members.
‘300 SPARTANS’
Rodriguez said the support of more than 300 lawmakers or more than 95 percent of the 314 members of the House who have agreed to sign as co-authors clearly shows that “the representatives of the people by district and party-list are really following their constituents, who are overwhelmingly supporting the call for a constitutional convention.”
He said such widespread support should prompt the Senate to keep an open mind on the House’s initiative: “So I hope our colleagues in the Senate will see the overwhelming support of the people, and the representatives of the people, that we are for constitutional convention. And I hope the Senate will be, you know, open-minded, as far as discussing this particular resolution which will be sent to them after the voting.”
The total number of co-authors on RBH No. 6 was announced by Dalipe during a majority caucus held an hour before the yesterday’s session.
The 300-strong caucus was attended by Romualdez and Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, along with key House leaders that include deputy speakers, deputy majority leaders, assistant majority leaders, and all chairmen of House committees.
The caucus was called to apprise members of the House majority of the priority measures that need to be acted upon by the chamber before the Easter legislative break.
“We are at the cusp of making history today. With this great number, we can now be likened to the 300 Spartans that made a last stand in the Battle of Thermopylae,” said Rodriguez.
‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL, OUT OF STEP’
In voting against the measure, Lagman said the House conducted “an unconstitutional route to Charter change in holding sessions singly in considering the joint resolution without meeting with the Senate in joint session.”
He said the constituent power of the Congress under Article XVII of the Constitution is exercised in three different modes: Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members” may propose “any amendment to, or revision of the Constitution; Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of all its members, call a constitutional convention; and Congress may, by a majority vote of all its members, submit to the electorate the question of calling such a convention.”
Lagman said Cha-cha is also “out of step now,” stressing that Congress and the President “must exert all efforts and allocate the necessary resources to addressing the present economic woes of the country particularly on gripping poverty, escalating inflation, lack of food security, and the adverse effects of a possible recession.”
Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, the eldest son of former president Duterte, also voted against RBH No. 6, saying that while he is not opposing the passage of the measure per se, he believes that “it is not timely, our country is facing more pressing social and economic issues, like inflation and poverty among others, that we need to prioritize.”
“Billions to be allocated for a constitutional convention could be allocated instead to other programs intended to improve the living conditions of thousands of Filipino families,” Duterte said.
Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman, who also voted against the measure, said the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution “was written to protect the interest of Filipinos against that of foreign interests.”
