House OKs bill calling for con-con to amend Charter, clash with Senate expected

By Jeanne Michael Penaranda

QUEZON CITY – Both chambers of Congress appear to favor amending the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

The Senate and the House of Representatives, however, seem to be headed for a clash as each has its own mode of doing the amendments.

This as the House approved on the third and final reading esolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6, which calls for a hybrid constitutional convention (con-con) to propose amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Members of the Senate led by neophyte Senator Robinhood Padilla, however, appear to be favoring charter change via Congress formed as a Constituent Assembly.

adilla said he has filed esolution of Both Houses No. which seeks to amend the 1987 Constitution’s economic provisions via constituent assembly.

Under Section XVII of the 1987 Constitution, any amendment or revision to the Constitution may be proposed by Congress upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members (con-ass), through concon, or people’s initiative.

In a con-con, those who will amend the Charter will be elected by the people.

Under a con-ass, the changes will be deliberated by incumbent members of Congress.

Senator Padilla, chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Laws, also said he could convince his colleagues to support his Cha-cha resolution if they could be assured that the amendments would be limited to the constitution’s economic provisions.

“Diyan kailangan magbigay ang mababang kapulungan. Kung gusto po nila talaga,” Padilla told reporters.

Padilla said lawmakers in the House have assured him that only the economic provisions of the constitution are up for revision.

ith 3 1 a r ative votes, seven negative votes and no abstention, the chamber passed on third reading House Bill (HB) 7352, which is the accompanying bill to RBH 6.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, author of the bill, 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.

“We need more foreign capital to create additional job and income opportunities for our people. Increased investments will sustain our economic growth,” he said.

He said relaxing the Charter’s economic provisions would enhance the investment and economic space in the country.

The bill proposes the seven-month ter of o ce of the convention starting from December 1, 2023, up to June 30, 2024.

Under the measure, 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 nor later than 90 days after the submission of the convention report to the President and 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 House Speaker.

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 co unities, women, youth, veterans, cooperatives, senior citizens and persons with disability, and such other sectors as the Senate President and House Speaker may determine. cers and e bers of all political parties or coalitions shall be prohibited fro no inating, fielding, endorsing, supporting, or campaigning for any candidate for con-con delegate. ny person holding public o ce, including members of the armed forces, shall be considered resigned upon the filing of his certificate of candidacy for concon delegate.

The Senate president and House Speaker shall appoint the appointive members within 15 days before the start of the convention.

A delegate must at least be 25 years of age on the day of the election or appointment, at least a college degree holder, must be a registered voter in the district in which the delegate shall be elected, and a resident for a period of not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the election.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) shall issue implementing rules and regulations for the election of concon members.

No aspirant shall represent or allow himself/herself to be represented as a candidate of a political party/coalition.

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 a endments, or appointed to any government position while the convention is in session and within one year after its adjournment.