HEADLINE-COURTS & LAW | MANILA- Senate chief sets Cha-cha in motion
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri holds a press conference yesterday after the filing of a resolution that seeks to start the discussions on amending the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution. / Jesse Bus
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Marcos bucks Cha-cha via people’s initiative
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SENATE President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri on Monday filed Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6 seeking to amend economic provisions in the Constitution.
Senate President Pro Tempore Lorna Regina “Loren” Legarda and Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara co-authored RBH 6, proposing amendments to Articles 12, 14 and 16 of the charter.
The senators said the nation’s economic policy “must be reframed under the demands of this increasingly globalized age, while still protecting the general policy of Filipino-first that guides the economic provisions of the Constitution.”
The resolution cited “a need to institutionalize the reforms laid down in the Public Service Act to liberalize industries, promote efficient service delivery and foster competition as an enduring policy.”
Article 12 deals with “National Economy and Patrimony,” Article 14 with “Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports” and Article 16 with “General Provisions.”
Filed Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri holds a copy of a resolution that seeks to start the discussions on amending the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution. Contributed photo
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RBH 6 provides that the amendments will be done by inserting the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law.”
For example, Section 11 of the National Patrimony and Economy provision would be amended to read: “No franchise, certificate, or any other form of authorization for the operation of a public utility shall be granted except to citizens of the Philippines or to corporations or associations organized under the laws of the Philippines, at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens unless provided by law. Unless provided by law, the participation of foreign investors in the governing body of any public utility enterprise shall be limited to their proportionate share in its capital, and all the executive and managing officers of such corporation or association must be citizens of the Philippines.”
“Our children deserve to have access to the best educational institutions, both Filipino and foreign, to ensure that they receive the best training to become globally competitive citizens in the modern world,” Zubiri, Legarda and Angara said.
They said the advertising industry “already has foreign players, and liberalizing the same is a logical and sound policy to attract foreign direct investment in that industry.”
Zubiri said the filing of RBH 6 aims “to avert a constitutional crisis between the House of Representatives and the Senate. And to make it clear that there are no other planned provisions or amendments on any other thing but purely economic in nature.”
During a press briefing, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked the Senate to lead the Charter change or Cha-cha initiative, but it should not include allowing foreign land ownership.
Zubiri said the President is concerned over the reported attempt by some Cha-cha proponents to offer P100 to anyone who would sign the petition pushing for the people’s initiative (PI).
He said he met with the President last January 9, and “we discussed how we can diffuse the situation.”
“In fairness to the President, he was not aware that the people’s initiative language was to diminish the power of the Senate. After that, he asked me to meet with the Speaker,” Zubiri said.
He said he met with Speaker Martin Romualdez on Tuesday evening, and “we had a lively and vigorous debate on the issue.”
Marcos met with Zubiri and Romualdez on January 11 after the traditional vin d’honneur in Malacañang.
“In that meeting, I defended the position of the Senate that as far as we are concerned their plan is unconstitutional because we are a bicameral system of government,” Zubiri said.
“I would like to thank the President for his comment that the PI is too divisive. He said, ‘Why doesn’t the Senate take the lead in the discussions of the economic provisions and then you approve your version, which the House can adopt?’ So, that was the position of the President,” he said.
He said the majority of the senators have decided to create a subcommittee under the Committee on Constitutional Amendments, headed by Sen. Robinhood Padilla, to conduct the hearing on the RBH 6.
Angara was chosen to lead the subpanel.
In a statement Monday, Romualdez said he supports the filing of RBH 6.
“This resolution using the mode of Constituent Assembly is a decisive step towards amending the 1987 Constitution, particularly in terms of relaxing the economic provisions that currently restrict the entry of foreign direct investments into the Philippines,” he said.
“The move to amend the Constitution through a Constituent Assembly underscores our commitment to a democratic and participatory process. It reflects our collective resolve to address the long-standing barriers that have, to some extent, hindered our nation’s progress,” Romualdez said.
He said “the synergy between the Senate and the House in passing” the resolution “will send a strong signal of unity and purpose.”
Albay 2nd District Rep. Jose Ma. Clemente “Joey” Salceda welcomed “any effort by the Senate” to open talks on revising the Constitution.
“Opening up the conversation, rather than immediately closing the window for change, is necessary and urgent,” Salceda said in a statement.
He said he believes an “existential threat of a constitutional crisis” does not exist.
“Both the People’s Initiative underway and previous attempts by the House to establish a Constituent Assembly to amend the Constitution are fully in accord with the process stipulated in the 1987 Constitution. The regular workings of the legislature and the relationship between the Senate and the House should thus continue without interruption,” Salceda said.
“With or without the success of the People’s Initiative, the House, for its part, will also exhaust all means made available by the Constitution to bring in more investments, create new and better-paying jobs, and create new business and trade opportunities for our people. These things cannot wait.”
