Image credits: AP
DESPITE the non-inclusion of economic Charter change on the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) priority list and senators still appearing cool to the proposal, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said the initiative liberalizing the country’s economy is not “dead in the water.”
In an interview, Velasco said the House of Representatives will pass the Resolution of Both Houses 2 by May of this year.
“Not naman really dead in the water, but we’re just really pushing for Charter Change mainly because of the economic provisions,” he said
“But I have to talk to [House Committee on Constitutional amendments] chair [Alfredo] Garbin first. But actually, I see finishing the charter change (Cha-Cha) before the end of May before we go on break [at least in the House],” Velasco said.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III earlier said Ledac has already agreed to prioritize at least 14 measures that need to be passed before the onset of the election period next year.
The economic Charter change and the proposed P420-billion Bayanihan 3 were not included in the priority list.
The Ledac serves as a consultative and advisory body to the President as the head of the national economic and planning agency for further consultations and advice on certain programs and policies essential to the realization of the goals of the national economy. It also serves as a venue to facilitate high-level policy discussions on vital issues and concerns affecting national development.
Asked for comment, Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez said the Congress can still pass the economic Chacha.
“This is a mere oversight. Once the House approves the economic amendments, we will send them immediately to the Senate for their action,” he added.
Vote separately
In a separate statement, Rodriguez assured senators that the Senate and the House will vote separately and not jointly on the proposed economic Chacha.
He made the assurance in the wake of concerns aired by some senators, including constitutional amendments committee chairman Sen. Francis Pangilinan, and House members on the voting issue.
The House is expected to resume consideration of economic Cha-cha this week and to vote on it before Congress goes on its Holy Week break on March 27.
“Although the Constitution is silent on the voting issue, we are making the commitment that we will vote separately on Cha-cha, with each chamber obtaining the constitutionally required three-fourths vote of all its members to endorse any amendment,” Rodriguez said.
“In fact, separate voting is what is contained in Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 of Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, principal proponent of economic Charter amendments,” he said.
He quoted the pertinent part of the resolution: “Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives, by a vote of three-fourths of all its members, with each House voting separately, and pursuant to Article XVII of the Constitution, to propose amendments to Articles XII, XIV and XVI of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines…”
The resolution seeks to empower Congress to change restrictive economic provisions to attract foreign investments and create jobs with the addition of the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in such provisions. Rodriguez is certain that the Speaker’s resolution will prevail over a minority view in the House that the two chambers should vote jointly on Cha-cha.
“The majority recognizes the fact that Congress is a bicameral or two-house assembly, and joint voting will negate that and render 24 senators useless against 300 House members,” he said.
He noted that most resource persons of the House constitutional amendments committee in its hearing, including former Supreme Court justices, held the view that voting is separate.
Long overdue
Meanwhile, Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo emphasized that the amendments to the 34-year-old Charter are overdue and needed to be recalibrated.
Even the framers of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, she added, believed that the law of the land should be reviewed after five years, and not five decades.
Stressing that the economic provisions of the Constitution were not meant to be “fixed forever,” Quimbo pointed out that in hearings on RBH 2, former Supreme Court Justice Adolfo Azcuna––who helped draft both the 1971 and 1986 constitutions––told the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments that “I believe we intended the economic revisions to last not more than five years.”
Quimbo added that Azcuna had clarified that the members of the Constitutional Commission “wanted the Constitution to be untouched really for five years, including the economic provisions, to see if it works; I think with 30 years of experience, it is time to recalibrate.”
The lawmaker informed members of the House that in 2019, even before the pandemic, “we fell behind Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam in terms of attracting FDI [foreign direct investment] inflows.”
“This is perhaps to be expected,” explained Quimbo, “since according to the OECD’s FDI regulatory restrictiveness index, the Philippines has the most restrictive economy in the Asean where FDI is concerned. In fact, the Philippines ranked the fourth lowest out of 87 countries around the world.”
“This resolution is one necessary step towards the creation of a fairer and more dynamic business environment—one geared towards maximizing benefits for the Filipino people,” she said.