MANILA, Philippines — Conflicting versions of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the proposed economic amendments to the 1987 Constitution, specifically the contentious issue on voting, should be threshed out in a dialogue among senators and congressmen, according to former senator Gregorio Honasan.
“There’s nothing wrong in sitting down and engaging in a dialogue. We have to do this together,” Honasan told Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. during the hearing of the House committee of the whole on Wednesday.
“We are exposing our strengths and weaknesses as a young democracy to temporary friends and allies. This is not good for us,” Honasan said, adding that the nation’s leaders should avoid wrangling in public and settle their differences discreetly.
This is in light of the admission recently made by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri that his leadership is finding it hard to get the votes of 18 senators to approve their Resolution of Both Houses 6, even if he already promised the Senate’s approval to President Marcos, Gonzales said.
This latest development leaves economic Charter change in the Senate with uncertainty, unlike in the House where plenary debates on Resolution of Both Houses 7 will start on March 11, and is projected to be approved on second reading by March 13.
The House committee of the whole approved RBH7 on Wednesday after six days of exhaustive marathon hearings, which started on Feb. 26.
The House is set to pass the resolution on second reading next week. The chamber is targeting final and third-reading approval before Congress goes on its Holy Week recess on March 23, and then send RBH7 to the Senate.
Philippines campus for Ivy League schools
Allowing Ivy League schools in the US to put up branches in the country will force local institutions to improve their quality of education, without sacrificing the need to inculcate patriotism among Filipino students, administration lawmakers said.
“If we will have a Harvard University here, then there is no more need for students to go abroad. I’m supportive of access to education,” Rep. Fidel Nograles told reporters.
Nograles added students aspiring to study abroad will not be constrained by travel and education costs, if foreign education institutions such as Harvard are allowed in the country.
Rep. Janette Garin also pushed for the lifting of restrictive provisions in the 1987 Constitution, insisting it will not make local students less of a Filipino if they get exposed to other methods of learning.
“We’re talking about you’re being a Filipino, we’re talking about patriotism, but does it make you less of a Filipino if you wish for a high-quality education? Does it make you less of a Filipino if you aspire to be competitive?” Garin said.
“Many of our Cabinet officials, senators, our congressmen studied in Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Boston University and other Ivy League schools abroad. Does this mean that if you have the means, only you can study in foreign schools? But if you are an ordinary child of a teacher, or an ordinary child of a farmer, you do not have the right to good education?” she asked.
Political hack
The hasty passage of RBH7 seeking to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution can be considered the biggest “political hack” as Congress usually takes its time when passing legislation, labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) said yesterday.
“(It) is equivalent to a political hack which is unthinkable for a huge political body known for being laggard and protracted in its lawmaking process, especially when it comes to important social development agenda,” PM secretary general Judy Ann Miranda said.
“When it comes to legislation for women, lawmakers treat us like history books. But for Charter change for foreign interests, they are like Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok in their swift action,” Miranda noted.
Meanwhile, militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) warned about grim prospects of a foreign-controlled economy and well-entrenched political dynasties with unlimited terms after the House of Representatives approved RBH7.
“The Philippines will soon be up for sale. Rates and prices will inevitably increase, profits will be further squeezed from the people,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said.
He urged the public, particularly the oppressed classes and marginalized sectors, to oppose efforts to amend the Constitution. “The Philippines is not for sale. Our future is not for sale,” he said.
Reyes expects the Cha-cha measure endorsed by Marcos to be passed on second and then third and final reading before the Holy Week break. He warned the Senate that the House might file a resolution with the Comelec for a plebiscite by June after presenting RBH7 on the back of three-fourths vote of all members of Congress. – Mayen Jaymalin, Emmanuel Tupas