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SOURCE: Press and Public Affairs Bureau

House okays resolution calling for economic reform through constitutional amendments
06 March 2023 05:34:46 PM


WITH 301 votes against six and one abstention, the House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a resolution calling for a constitutional
convention (con-con) that would propose amendments to the economic
provisions of the Constitution to create more jobs and generate income
to support the pro-poor programs of the government.

Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 is principally authored by
Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Majority Leader Manuel Jose
“Mannix” M. Dalipe, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte, Cagayan de
Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who chairs the House
Committee on Constitutional Amendments; and the Kapatiran Party.

Speaker Romualdez 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.”

“We need additional investments that would create more job and income
opportunities for our people. We need increased capital to sustain our
economic growth momentum,” Speaker Romualdez said.

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.

The 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.”

The resolution notes 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 further notes that such reform has been identified by reputable
business and economic groups as a key policy instrument that needs to
be implemented, and that these organizations feel that the economic
reform by way of constitutional amendments “is now long overdue.”

It likewise cites a petition, filed by Kapatiran Party, for an
indirect initiative under Republic Act (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.

The Rodriguez committee gave due course to such petition in its second
regular meeting last January 26.

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 (SK) polls.

The details of the election and appointment of con-con delegates would
be contained in an implementing bill to be passed by Congress.(END)

 
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