House constitutional amendments panel Chairperson Alfredo Garbin believes that the deadline imposed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco to tackle the proposed Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 (RBH-2) until May is enough time for them to pass the measure on 3rd and final reading.
RBH-2, authored by Speaker Velasco, aims to amend the 1987 Constitution and insert the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” to the restrictions set by the highest law of the land.
“Sapat na ang binigay ni Speaker Lord Allan Velasco na sa buwan ng Mayo ay matapos ito sa (Speaker Lord Allan Velasco has given enough time to finish it until the month of May on the) third reading, getting 3/4 votes of all the members of the House and transmit it to the Senate for their consideration,” Rep. Garbin estimated.
The House of Representatives will continue tackling the economic charter change but Rep. Garbin doubts whether or not the debates may be finished by next week, the final week before Congress goes on for break.
“Patuloy pa rin ang debate sa plenaryo. Hindi natin inaasahan matatapos ang debate before the break. Ang atin ay mabigyan ang lahat ng pagkakataon maipahayag ang kanilang saloobin sa pag amyenda sa Constitution (The debates are ongoing in the plenary. We are not expecting the debate to end before the break. For us, everyone should be given the opportunity to express his/her thoughts on amending the Constitution,” he added.
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker and former House Constitutional Amendments Panel Chairperson Rufus Rodriguez projected that the Senate and House can finish the economic charter change this year.
“Since we will have a break next week on March 25, the deliberations will be continued when we resume sessions on May 17. Speaker Lord Allan Velasco is affording the opportunity to all members to participate in the deliberations”, he shared.
The former Constitutional Amendments Committee Chairperson and Law dean believes that the Senate will then have enough time to consider economic Cha-cha once it is sent to the Upper Chamber as he claimed that several senators have already expressed support for the proposed measure.
“That is why I am confident that the Senate will tackle our amendment proposals once transmitted to them and will eventually consider approving them,” Rep. Rodriguez stated.
Rodriguez, however, reiterated that the Lower House and Senate should vote separately and not jointly on proposed economic cha-cha. — Daniel Manalastas
