Proposed constitutional amendments submitted to House — DILG

MANILA, Philippines — The second set of proposed constitutional amendments have been submitted to the House of Representatives, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

DILG spokesman Jonathan Malaya said the Inter-Agency Task Force on Constitutional Reform (Task Force CORE) submitted the proposals to the House committee on constitutional amendments last week.

“The second set of proposed amendments cover the needed political and electoral reforms to strengthen democracy and improve governance as well as the ‘equality provisions’ to ensure more funds flow to the provinces and spread the benefits of economic growth to all regions of the country,” Malaya said in a statement. 

Among the proposals submitted to the House were the provisions to strengthen political parties, the prohibition of turncoats, the execution of the anti-political dynasty provision as mandated by the current Constitution and the extension of the terms of local government officials to five years with one reelection. 

The proposal was submitted during a public hearing at the University of the Philippines-Visayas in Iloilo.  

The DILG has been holding provincial roadshows and consultations to garner public support for the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

Task Force CORE submitted its proposed “equality provisions” that increased the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) for LGUs and the transformation of the Regional Development Council into a Regional Development Authority in its first set of amendments put forward to the House.

Malaya said the task force is also fully supporting pending proposals before Congress to lift the restrictive economic provisions on foreign ownership and equity.