The leadership of the House of Representatives will take its cue from the Senate which will now take the lead on the proposal to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the 37-year-old Constitution.
This revelation was made during the resumption of the daily press briefings at the House of Representatives by members of the so-called “Young Guns” in the chamber, who were asked to react on the new resolution filed by Senator Robin Padilla calling for amendments to the Charter via the constitutional convention route.
“I think our Speaker, who gave us clearly his leadership direction… is that we will let the Senate take the lead…He made it very clear to all of us and to the nation that as far as the House is concerned, we are specifically only interested in (amending) the economic provisions,” Lanao del Norte Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo said.
“As far as the Con-Con is concerned and what contents there are, I think there has been also a counterpart that has been filed here in the House. So, we can more or less give it to the Senate on a silver platter,” he added in a press release.
For PBA Partylist Rep. Margarita Nograles, a lawyer, the Senate is well within its right if it decides to tackle the Resolution of Both Houses No. 8 filed by Padilla.
“But as far as we here in the House, we have tackled that, we have exhaustively looked into the economic provisions (of the Constitution) solely and we have yet to see kung ano po ang gagawin ng Senate diyan, kung ano iyong aspeto sa Con-Con, ano iyong scope niyon,” she said.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong agreed with both Dimaporo and Nograles that the House, under the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, has already delivered its commitment to the President and the Filipino people to approve amendments to economic provisions of the Constitution to open our country to foreign investments.
Adiong said the House will also be busy deliberating on pending pieces of legislation and exercising its oversight functions while waiting for a more definitive Senate action on proposals for constitutional economic reforms.
For 1-Rider Partylist Rep. Rodge Gutierrez, also a lawyer, whatever the Senate decides on regarding the mode by which to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution, the House will follow the lead of the Senate.
Davao Oriental Rep. Cheeno Miguel Almario said the House leadership has already expressed its intention to introduce economic reforms to the Constitution, and that he hopes the Senate and the House cooperate on these amendments.
“We can explore as many options as we want, but again the facts still remain that the economic provisions, the economic improvement hopefully to the country, will be pushed by both houses,” Almario said. ||
