The House of Representatives is eyeing to wind up the deliberations on Resolution of Both Houses 7, proposing amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, by mid-March, or before Congress goes into Holy Week recess.

This was confirmed by Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin in a press conference at the House on Thursday, guaranteeing that the measure would not hurdle the floor without being subject to closer scrutiny, especially from the opposition bloc.

RBH 7 will be up for plenary deliberations on Monday, and the House leadership will still have until Wednesday to “exhaustively discuss” the same, according to Garin.

“By Monday next week, that's the third reading. However, if it can be extended, we still have like two more days, Tuesday and Wednesday. So, target time to finish third reading is [on] 18th,” the Iloilo lawmaker told reporters.

The House’s RBH 7, which mimics the Senate's RBH 6, seeks to relax the economic restrictions on foreign ownership in public utilities, educational facilities, and the advertising industry said to hamper the country's economic potential by amending Articles 12, 14, and 16.

The House of Representatives – acting as a committee of the whole – greenlighted the measure’s committee report on Wednesday after six days of exhaustive and extensive deliberation with Cabinet members, ex-lawmakers, academics, and stakeholders.

Garin said the House will hold its regular session at 3 PM and can terminate proceedings “until wee hours in the morning” to accommodate all its members who wish to raise questions on RBH 7.

The three-member Makabayan bloc expressed concern that the supermajority coalition may take advantage once the floor opens the amendments to RBH 7, and submit further economic provisions in addition to 12, 14, and 16, or worse, insert political amendments.

Garin, however, deemed this “very impossible” as the majority of the proponents have glued their proposed amendments limited to Articles 12, 14, and 16 of the Constitution.

“The deliberations have proven that DepEd's claim is baseless. So that is similar to the claim of the Makabayan bloc. Definitely no political amendments,” she averred.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong joined Garin in rebuffing the opposition’s claims.

“Isn’t enough that it is approve that we only limited our discussion to economic provisions? There was no invitation sent to any organization or any individual who may be expert on political amendments,” Adiong said.

The DepEd, headed by Vice President Sara Duterte, who has opposed efforts for Charter change, bucked to allow foreign entities to have full control and administration in the basic education in the country for fear that it might have “serious implications" to DepEd's mandate and the exercise of its functions.

Commission on Higher Education chairperson Prospero de Vera III, meanwhile, countered that opening up ownership and control of the educational institutions in higher education will make the country “competitive” like its ASEAN neighbors.

The Philippines, according to the Second Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM 2, is one of the strictest countries in terms of foreign ownership in the ASEAN region, compared to Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, which permit full foreign ownership.