Economic Cha-cha measure moves forward in House

House of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

The House of Representatives takes the next step toward passing Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 on Monday, March 11 when it begins the plenary debates on the econimic Charter change (Cha-cha) measure.

Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr., one of the principal authors of RBH No. 7, today said the plenary will tackle the report of the Committee of the Whole, which endorsed the approval of the resolution “without amendment”.

But this early, the House leadership made no bones about its intention to pass the measure on second reading on Wednesday, March 13. This would set up the third and final reading passage of RBH No.7 the following week.

The committee report resulted from the six days worth of marathon deliberations carried out earlier by the 300-plus-strong House acting as the Committee of the Whole.

Gonzales said he expects the deliberations to be shorter than the proceedings of the Committee of the Whole, which also heard the opinions of various resource persons from both the government and private sector on the economic Cha-cha proposal.

“In plenary, the proponents of the economic Charter changes will defend their proposals. The plan is to have three days of debates, with the second-reading vote set shortly after the termination of discussions and the period for amendments on the third day,” said the senior deputy speaker.

Gonzales added that as per the direction of Speaker Martin Romualdez, the House is sticking with its timeline of approving the proposed amendments on third and final reading before the Holy Week recess, after which it would send RBH No. 7 to the Senate.

RBH No. 7 is titled, “A Resolution of Both Houses of Congress proposing amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, particularly on Articles Xll, XlV and XVl.”

It’s counterpart measure in the Senate, RBH No.6, bares the same title. However, it is behind in terms of progress in the legislative mill as it is still under deliberation in the subcommittee level.

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At any rate, Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri earlier said he and his colleagues would approve the proposed Cha-cha later this month or before Holy Week break.

Gonzales reiterated that the proposed amendments would give Congress the flexibility to change foreign capital and foreign ownership restrictions in the Constitution in three areas: public utilities, education and advertising.

“The ratification of the amendments will immediately send a powerful signal to investors that we want to attract more foreign investments in these sectors of the economy by changing those limitations down the road. It will also greatly help our beloved President, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marco in convincing foreign investors to invest in our country,” he said. — Ellson Quismorio