Passage of Belmonte’s economic Cha-cha bill looms

House speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte, Jr. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

THE House of Representatives is set to approve Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.’s economic Charter change bill on third and final reading this Wednesday, a House leader said on Monday.

In a press briefing, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said he is confident that the House will muster the numbers – or three fourths of the 290-strong chamber – to pass a Charter change bill for the first time in legislative history.

He remained confident that the bill would not be opposed over suspicions of extending term limits because it only focuses on seeking to amend the Constitution through a law passed in Congress.

“I think Charter change (Cha-cha), it’s just a matter of time. Wala naman talagang masamang provision sa Cha-cha… Hindi naman automatically pwedeng bumili ang foreigner sa atin. What is being limited is the manner of allowing foreigners to own. Hindi naman naming sinasabing, pwede na kayong bumili,” Gonzales said.

Resolution of Both Houses 1 seeks to ease foreign ownership restrictions in the Constitution by inserting the “unless otherwise provided for by law” phrase in the provision granting 60-percent ownership to Filipinos and 40-percent on foreign investments.

This means amending the Constitution would only require a simple legislation that needs to be approved by both chambers of Congress and subjected to a plebiscite.

“There is an ‘unless otherwise provided for by law,’ meaning lahat ng restrictions sa Constitution will continue unless later on, there is a law adopted by Congress,” Gonzales said.

Asked if the majority can muster enough numbers – or 217 of the 289 representatives – in the plenary to pass the bill, Gonzales said: “Hindi pa naman ako nagkakamali sa conviction ko sa House.”

Belmonte’s resolution was approved on second reading on May 27 by voice voting. The Speaker said it is a historic first for a Charter change bill to even reach the plenary.

Charter change has failed in the previous Congresses due to criticisms that it could be used to extend the term limits of public officials.

Belmonte said the bill once approved by Congress need not be signed by the President because it needs only to be ratified through a plebiscite synchronized with the 2016 presidential elections. AC