SAYING it is badly needed to boost the economy, Sen. Robin Padilla is seeking to persuade anew House of Representatives leaders to frontload enabling legislation for amending the Constitution’s “restrictive” economic features via Congress, through the Senate and the House of Representatives convening as a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass).
In a radio interview over the weekend, he confirmed readiness to reach out anew to their House counterparts to prioritize amending the Constitution’s economic provisions through a constituent assembly.
Padilla noted, however, that the preference of the House to amend the Constitution “through a constitutional convention may take years, while needing billions of pesos in funding.”
“Ako po ay nagpakumbaba na po at nagpunta sa Kongreso, nagmano na po ako sa magigiting at mahal na mambabatas sa Kamara. At ako ay nakiusap na rin sa kanila, nagpaliwanag sa kanila, at kung kailangan ulitin ko po yan ay gagawin ko po ‘yan [I have humbled myself and gone to the Lower House and paid them my due respects. I have discussed this with them. And if need be, I will do it again],” he related on radio.
Padilla, chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, affirmed his preference to amend the Charter through a constitutional convention, but added: “Time is short to amend the Charter’s economic provisions, aside from the cost of a constitutional convention, which may cost some P11 billion.”
The senator stressed the preferred constituent assembly is “the most practical way to amend the economic provisions of the Charter, so the proposed changes can be brought to the public via a plebiscite timed with the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election in October.”
Padilla stressed, “we need to move fast. If the economic amendments are approved in October, they can take effect immediately and Congress can pass new measures to open our economy to investments.”
“If we were not having a difficult time economically, I would have preferred a Con-con. But now that we are living on borrowings, we must prioritize the economic provisions,” he added in Tagalog.
