The House of Representatives on Tuesday took another step toward approving the bill that will review the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
In a voice voting, the House on plenary session approved the Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6, which calls for the creation of a hybrid constitutional convention (Con-con), setting the stage for the resolution’s plenary approval on third and final reading before Congress adjourns in March.
The second reading approval came after just three days worth of plenary debates on the measure.
On Tuesday morning, the House committee on appropriations chaired by Rep. Zaldy Co of Ako-Bicol, approved the funding provision of the RBH 6. The budget would be used for the election of delegates, as well as the operation of the Constitutional convention.
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chair of the House constitutional amendments committee, maintained that the Constitutional convention itself would require a budget of about P6 billion while another P3 billion will be used for the conduct of a plebiscite on the proposed amendments.
“This is of transcendental importance since this is about having a Con-con that will draft a new constitution that is more attuned to globalization and provide job opportunities to our people,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also stressed the public hearings conducted by the House, which showed that majority of the stakeholders were in favor of the proposed amendments.
“The compelling reason is that this institution cannot turn its back from the truth and reality that the 1987 Constitution needs to be reviewed for it is the third most restrictive in the world and the most restrictive in ASEAN. Its inflexibility and restrictiveness hampers foreign direct investments to come in as much as they do in other countries,” Rodriguez told reporters.
