The 300-plus strong House of Representatives, acting as a Committee of the Whole, on Wednesday approved the Resolution of Both Houses 7, which seeks to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

The committee voted to endorse the amendments proposed in RBH7 after six days of hearings during which it heard the testimonies of scores of resource persons and experts, including former Cabinet members, former lawmakers, academics, educators and professionals based abroad, former Supreme Court justices, economists, and framers of the 1987 Constitution.

Deputy Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, committee majority leader, presented a motion to approve RBH7. Shortly after, Majority Leader and Zamboanga City Rep. Manuel Jose M. Dalipe, who presided over the hearing, declared the resolution approved.

In a news briefing yesterday morning, Gonzales said the House will start plenary debates on the proposed amendments on Monday.

“We will target second reading approval of RBH7 next Wednesday,” he said.

He said the House is still going by its timeline of approving the amendment proposals before Congress goes on its Holy Week break on 23 March.

“I don’t know about the Senate,” he added.

Exact replicas

RBH7 is said to be almost an exact reproduction of RBH6, introduced by Senate President Miguel Zubiri and Senators Loren Legarda and Sonny Angara.

RBH6 and RBH7 are 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.”

The proposed House and Senate changes concern the grant of legislative franchises to and ownership of public utilities in Article Xll, ownership of basic educational facilities in Article XlV, and ownership of advertising firms in Article XVl.

The suggested principal amendments are the insertion of the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law,” which would empower Congress to lift or relax present economic restrictions in the nation’s basic law, and the addition of the qualifier “basic” in Article XlV.

RBH7 and RBH6 also restate the provision of the Constitution that Congress may propose amendments “upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members.”

To recall, both houses of Congress engaged in verbal exchanges amid the lower chamber’s bid to amend the 1987 Constitution through a People’s Initiative.

The People’s Initiative signature drive, allegedly marred by corruption, resulted in two resolutions being tackled separately by both Houses.

Big challenge

Senate President Miguel Zubiri admitted on Wednesday that the eventual passage of RBH6 will be a “big challenge” for him.

Zubiri, one of the authors of RBH 6, which proposes specific amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, said the recent squabble between the Senate and the House could be a factor.

“It’s a challenge. It’s a big challenge. I think the squabble with our friends in the House and here in the Senate is one of the factors. It led to a trust issue,” he said.

“I mentioned it to President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.). We could still get 18 votes but at this point in time, it’s a challenge, but the commitment is we are going to have a debate about it,” he said.

3 more senators sign manifesto

In another report, three more senators signed the manifesto of support to keep Juan Miguel Zubiri as the Senate President following a rumored coup over the weekend.

In a press briefing, Zubiri said Senators Robin Padilla, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada joined the 14 other senators that initially signed the manifesto.

Estrada and Revilla were among those rumored to replace him.

Those who had earlier signed the manifesto were Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, Senators Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Nancy Binay, Christopher “Bong” Go, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Lito Lapid, Grace Poe, Francis Tolentino, Raffy Tulfo and Mark Villar. Zubiri himself signed the document.

He thanked his colleagues for their support and expected more senators to support the resolution in the coming days.

“I was not the one who initiated it. Others have yet to sign because they are not here,” he said, noting that Senators Alan Peter and Pia Cayetano — both abroad — are set to sign the manifesto, and Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero.

Villar, Marcos didn’t sign

He said Senators Cynthia Villar and Imee Marcos had supported the document even though they did not sign it.

“They gave their support. They do not want any trouble. Our country is facing many challenges. We must show support to our institution,” he said.

Villar earlier disclosed that a manifesto of support had been circulating in the upper chamber. She, however, said that she did not see the document itself and, hence, did not sign it.

In an interview, Marcos said she would not sign the manifesto as she has been “traumatized” by anything related to the signature gathering.

“I’m tired of signatures, stop asking me for signatures,” she said.