A Senate panel on Tuesday officially closed the discussions of a measure seeking to remove restrictions on foreign ownership in public utilities, higher education, and advertising in the 1987 Philippine Constitution due to the unresolved issue of voting.

Senator Robin Padilla, who chairs the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, concluded the hearings on Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6 lamenting the unresolved discussion on whether the members of the Senate and House of Representatives should vote jointly or separately in amending the Charter.

“This is like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. Any proposal filed in Congress will be useless because there is no answer on whether both houses of Congress will vote jointly or separately. This is why I asked the Supreme Court for guidance,” he said.

Padilla noted former Senator Sonny Angara’s subcommittee has already tackled the proposed changes listed in the proposed RBH 6.

“Aking gustong iparating sa ating mga kababayan na itong RBH na ginawa ng pagdinig ng ating kaibigan si Sen. Angara ay isasarado natin ito. Ia-adjourn natin ang pagdinig na ito, ginawan na namin ito ng pagdinig (I want to report to our people that I am terminating hearings on the resolution of both houses tackled by former Sen. Angara. We will adjourn this since hearings had already been conducted on this),” he said.

Padilla stressed no need to spend taxpayers' money "just to ask the same questions over and over again."

“We have repeatedly touched on the issue but nothing has come out of it,” he added.

The senator said he would incorporate the findings from the subcommittee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes hearings in his committee report.