Get job done, work on Cha-cha–PBBM

Marcos tells solons to set aside disputes,let Senate lead talk on economic changes

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday asked both the Senate and the House of Representatives to set aside their differences, work on proposed amendments to restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, and get the job done for the benefit of the Filipino people.

“What for me is more important than to make these proclamations or pronouncements— what’s more important is to get it done. So, that’s what we’re doing. We’re doing it quietly. We do it without any fuss,” Mr. Marcos said during a media interview at the sidelines of the 16th Ani ng Dangal Awards 2024.

“We just want to get those amendments incorporated into the Constitution to improve the chances of investment and upskilling of our people,” he added.

The President said the Senate will take the lead in Charter change discussions, but both houses of Congress need to come to an agreement.

“I always said the Senate will take the lead. The Senate is taking the lead and between the two Houses [if] they will come to an agreement, then that will be the way we’ll do it,” Mr. Marcos said.

He also described concerns over Charter amendments as “a storm in ateacup” as both the Senate and House have long reached a consensus on the issue.

“I don’t know why there is such – it’s really a storm in a teacup because this has been decided very long ago from both the leaders of both Houses. Maybe I don’t proclaim but they said I need to step in [amid the squabble] but I have been talking to both sides for a long time,” the President said.

On Monday, House leaders filed a resolution containing their own version of economic amendments to the 1987 Constitution, patterned after the Senate’s current Charter change proposals.

Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 7 is almost an exact reproduction of RBH 6, filed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Juan Edgardo Angara and Loren Legarda.

RBH 7 is authored by Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr., Deputy Speaker and Quezon 2nd District Rep. David Suarez, Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, and other House leaders.

The proposed House and Senate changes are on the grant of legislative franchises to public utilities in Article 12, basic education in Article 14, and advertising in Article 16.

The suggested principal amendments are the insertion of the phrase, “unless otherwise provided by law,” which would empower Congress to lift or relax present economic restrictions in the nation’s basic law, and the addition of the qualifier “basic” in Article 16.

RBH No. 7 and RBH No. 6 restate the provision of the Constitution that Congress may propose amendments “upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members.”

“The nation’s economic policy must be reframed under the demands of this increasingly globalized age, while still protecting the general policy of Filipino-first that guides the economic provisions of the Constitution,” the House authors said.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.