
Senator Joel Villanueva
Photo courtesy of Joel Villanueva
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva on Tuesday said the upper chamber is on track for the Resolution of Both Houses No. 6, which seeks to amend certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
According to Villanueva, who chairs the Senate Committee on Rules, the chamber would settle first the rules on how they would process constitutional amendments.
“We’re definitely on the right track, and we’ll be ready before the culmination of the subcommittee hearing,” he told reporters in a text message.
“After our hearing, we asked the secretariat to collate and present to the members of the Rules Committee our draft committee report then I’ll sponsor it on the floor and approve it,” he added.
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero earlier noted that the Rules of the Senate do not have a specific section on procedures for constitutional amendments, unlike the House of Representatives, which are categorically stated in Sections 143 and 144 under Rule XXI.
Section 143 of House Rule XXI states that “the Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths (3/4) of all its Members, may propose amendment(s) to or revision of the Constitution.”
On the other hand, Section 144 prescribes that “proposals to amend or revise the Constitution shall be by resolution which may be filed at any time by any Member. The adoption of resolutions proposing amendments to or revision of the Constitution shall follow the procedure for the enactment of bills.”
House’s Resolution of Both Houses No. 7, the counterpart version of the Senate’s RBH 6, was approved by the lower chamber last week.
Meanwhile, the RBH 6, which was authored by Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, and Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, is still pending at the special subcommittee level.
RBH 7 and RBH 6 contain similar provisions, with one exception: the Senate’s resolution stated that the amendments would become effective upon a three-fourths vote of its members, with votes cast separately in each body.
The House’s version, however, did not specify whether the voting for the proposed amendments would be done in a joint or separate session.
Angara, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, remained firm that the upper chamber may conclude its discussion on RBH 6 by October at the latest.