House passes resolution calling for Con-con

MANILA, Philippines — Voting 301-6 with one abstention, allies of President Marcos in the House of Representatives gave their overwhelming approval on third and final reading yesterday to a resolution paving the way for the holding of a hybrid Constitutional Convention.

Resolution of Both Houses 6 principally authored by Speaker Martin Romualdez, Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, and Reps. Rufus Rodriguez, LRay Villafuerte and Ron Salo, among others, will soon be sent to the Senate for its concurrence.

Among the six who opposed RBH 6 were the three members of the militant Makabayan bloc, Reps. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela), France Castro (ACT Teachers) and Raoul Manuel (Kabataan), all party-list representatives.

The remaining three were Reps. Edcel Lagman of Albay, Gabriel Bordado of Camarines Sur and Mujiv Hataman of the lone district of Basilan. Lagman sits as president of the opposition

Liberal Party while the two are members of the party.

Bordado replaced the district left behind by Leni Robredo when she ran and won as vice president in 2016.

It was Rep. Arnolfo Teves who abstained. In a statement on the assassination of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo, Teves said he was abroad for stem cell treatment.

Despite Marcos’ remarks that Charter change is “not a priority of his administration,” the super majority coalition went ahead in stamping their approval to RBH 6, where amendments to the prohibitive “economic” provisions in the 1987 Constitution would be undertaken.

Romualdez assured the public that the House would limit its “Charter rewriting initiative to the restrictive economic provisions of the basic law in the hope that the changes would pave the way for the country to attract more foreign investments.”

“We need additional investments that would create more job and income opportunities for our people. We need increased capital to sustain our economic growth momentum,” the Speaker, a first cousin of the Chief Executive, said.

The envisioned Con-con, with about 300 members, would be a hybrid assembly with elected and appointed members, with the election and appointment of delegates to be held simultaneously with the Oct. 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.

Prior to the nominal voting, the House leadership held a caucus to apprise members of the House majority of the priority measures that need to be acted upon by the chamber before the Easter legislative break on March 24.

The 300-strong caucus was attended by the Speaker and Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, along with key House leaders that include deputy speakers, deputy majority leaders, assistant majority leaders, and all chairmen of House committees.

“We now have 300 House members as co-authors of RBH 6, and more are signifying their intention to be co-authors. This means we now have not 2/3 or 3/4 votes, but more than 93 percent of total House membership in solid support of the Con-con proposal,” Dalipe said.