A LEADING proponent of constitutional amendments in the House of Representatives yesterday said the Senate should first vote on the measure proposing Charter changes before the lower chamber accepts defeat and pulls the break on the initiative.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte urged senators to start deliberating and vote on its version of the House-backed proposal to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution through the constitutional convention (con-con) mode in the hope that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would still have time to hold the balloting for its delegates simultaneously with the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) to be held on October 30.
In case the House proposal does not muster enough votes as declared by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Villafuerte said: “We in the House would respect such a decision by a majority of our senators and let this latest initiative on constitutional reform kick the bucket.”
“We would only know for sure whether our senators support or not Charter Change via a con-con at this early stage of the Marcos presidency if they were to vote soon enough on constitutional reform in time for the BSKE on Oct. 30,” he said.
“At this point, we are appealing to our senators to give serious thought to the timely plenary action on this latest constitutional reform proposal, in consideration of the overwhelming support in the House of Representatives for the resolution and implementing bill on establishing this year a hybrid con-con tasked to rid the 1987 Charter of its inward-looking provisions on foreign participation in businesses that have turned off investors and put a damper on FDIs (foreign direct investments).”
Villafuerte, a longtime Cha-cha advocate, issued the statement in response to Zubiri’s declaration that constitutional reform is not a priority of the Senate, because even if “I were to push it … the truth is that we don’t have the numbers for Charter Change.”
The congressman is the president of the 45-member strong National Unity Party (NUP), the second biggest power bloc in the lower house whose 45 members all voted for Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 on third and final reading.
In appealing to the Senate President and the other senators to have “open hearts and minds” on badly needed constitutional reforms, Villafuerte allayed Zubiri’s fears of a possible switch from the current bicameral Congress to a unicameral legislature and stressed that “the con-con proposal in the House neither has a hidden agenda to marginalize them in the voting on would-be amendment proposals nor to abolish the Senate.”
Zubiri has said that the Senate, under his leadership, is focused on “national reconstruction” and on post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery.
Despite the assurance by some House members that they only want to amend the 1987 Charter’s restrictive economic provisions, Zubiri said “no one can control the flow of discussions among con-con delegates” and stop them from introducing changes to abolish the Senate and form a unicameral form of government.
Villafuerte pointed out that the House decided to adopt con-con as the mode for Cha-cha in lieu of Congress convening itself into a constituent assembly (con-ass) “precisely to eschew the kind of protracted debates that marred past attempts over whether senators and congressmen are required by the 1987 Charter to vote separately or jointly on would-be proposed amendments.”
CON-CON BILL
The House of Representatives yesterday afternoon approved the implementing bill to RBH No. 6 calling for the convening of a constitutional convention to introduce amendments to the Constitution.
Lawmakers voted 301-7 in favor of House Bill (HB) No. 7352, which provides for a seven-month term of office for the con-con, from December 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.
Speaker Martin Romualdez said the House constitutional reform initiative aims to rewrite the “restrictive” economic provisions of the Constitution to enable the country to attract more foreign investments, while Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chair of the House Committee on Constitutional Reforms, said several business groups and Fitch Solutions, a unit of leading credit ratings and financial market analysis provider Fitch Ratings, have welcomed the House economic constitutional reform effort.
Albay Rep. Lagman, who led those who voted against the measure, said no less than Rodriguez has admitted in plenary session that RBH No. 6 “is not yet complete, effective and implementable pending its approval by the Senate.”
“Verily, the approval of the ‘Constitutional Convention Act,’ which is entitled ‘An Act Implementing Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 of the Congress of the Philippines calling for a Constitutional Convention,” is patently precipitate and premature as there is nothing yet to be implemented,” Lagman said.
Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman, a member of the minority who also voted against the bill, said that while the House has already approved RBH No. 6, the Senate has yet to take any action on the measure.
“Why are we attempting to pass an implementing law for RBH 6 when, as it is right now, it is not yet ‘implementable,’ so to speak, because it still lacks Senate approval?” he said.
Under HB No. 7352, Charter amendments to be endorsed by the proposed con-con shall be submitted to the people for ratification in a plebiscite to be held not earlier than 60 days and not later than 90 days after the submission of the convention report to the President and to Congress.
The envisioned con-con shall be composed of elected delegates, one from each legislative district, to be voted on Oct. 30, 2023.
The con-con shall also have sectoral representatives, comprising 20 percent of the total number of delegates, to be appointed jointly by the Senate President and the Speaker. The original proposal includes the President among the appointing authorities.
The appointed sectoral representatives shall include three retired members of the judiciary, three from the academe, three from the legal profession, two economists, and two each from the business sector, labor, urban poor, farmers and fisherfolk, indigenous cultural communities, women, youth, veterans, cooperatives, senior citizens and persons with disability, and such other sectors as the Senate president and House Speaker may determine.
The bill provides that convention delegates “must be of recognized probity, independence, nationalism, and patriotism,” and “with recognized knowledge and competence in the Constitution, and a deep understanding of the State and the principles which underlie its existence, organization, and activities, as well as of government and governance.”
A delegate must at least be 25 years of age on the day of his election or appointment, must be a college degree holder, a registered voter in his district, and a resident of such district at least one year before the election.
Those convicted by final judgment of a crime involving moral turpitude are not qualified to be elected/appointed to the convention.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) shall issue the implementing rules and regulations for the election of con-con members. The Senate president and House Speaker shall appoint the appointive members within 15 days before the start of the convention.
Officers and members of all political parties or coalitions shall be prohibited from nominating, fielding, endorsing, supporting, or campaigning for any candidate for con-con delegate.
No aspirant shall represent or allow himself/herself to be represented as a candidate of a political party/coalition. Any person holding public office, including members of the armed forces, shall be considered resigned upon the filing of his certificate of candidacy for con-con delegate.
Any person elected or appointed to the convention shall not be eligible to run in the first local or national elections after the ratification of the proposed amendments, or appointed to any government position while the convention is in session and within one year after its adjournment.
The Senate Secretary and House Secretary-General shall initially convene and preside over the con-con at 10 in the morning at the Philippine International Convention Center on Dec. 1, 2023, until it has elected its president and presiding officer.
A con-con delegate shall enjoy the same parliamentary immunity accorded to a member of Congress.
The Senate, the House, and other government agencies shall make available personnel, facilities, equipment, or office space needed by the convention without hampering public service.
The con-con shall submit its report to the President, Congress, and Comelec within 30 days after the completion of the proposed amendments, or on June 30, 2024.
Funding for the convention shall initially be charged against any available appropriations in the 2023 national budget and subsequently included in next year’s budget proposal.
