Palace: Economic Cha-cha up to Congress

MANILA, Philippines - It is up to Congress to decide how it would tackle the resolution seeking to amend restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution, Malacañang maintained yesterday.

House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said the resolution was likely to be approved before the congressional Christmas break along with other key economic reform measures,

Congress is set to adjourn on Dec. 20 and resume session on Jan. 18.

“We always respect the judgment of our fellows in Congress when it comes to pieces of legislation that they would prioritize,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing.

“We have engagements with them to transmit what the administration wants to prioritize and we are hoping that they will exercise their sound judgment for the remaining (session) days,” she said.

Valte said they would leave it up to the “best judgment” of the lawmakers to decide what they would pass before the end of the year.

Asked if economic Cha-cha would be a waste of time, Valte said President Aquino had already voiced his position on the matter.

Aquino earlier said he was in favor of Cha-cha for judicial reforms, citing what he called judiciary’s overreach in making decisions.

But for Aquino’s critics, his openness to Cha-cha was an indication of his desire to seek a second term. He has since made clear he is not seeking another term.

Early on in his term, Aquino said Cha-cha was not a priority because it could lead to the lifting of term limits of elected officials instead of the supposed restrictive economic provisions of the Charter.

The President cited China, which he said experienced robust growth without amending its Constitution.

Also expected to be passed in the coming days is the joint resolution granting Aquino special powers to address a looming power shortage in Luzon this summer, Gonzales said.

The chamber is also expected to ratify the proposed P2.606-trillion national budget for 2015 as well as pass the supplemental budget being requested by the Department of Budget and Management.

Gonzales said the Resolution of Both Houses No. 1 (RBH1) seeking to boost the inflow of foreign investments by easing the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution, could be put to a vote for second reading approval in the coming weeks.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. authored the resolution.

“We hope we can get a three-fourths vote approval on this, but we’re optimistic because this is a crucial, non-political constitutional reform that has direct benefits to ordinary Filipinos,” Gonzales said.

Other measures are also being readied for approval before Christmas including the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which would replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.