Not enough time for Senate to tackle proposed economic Cha-cha, says Sotto

Senate President Vicente Sotto III   (Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Thursday said the upper chamber may not have enough time to look into proposed economic amendments to the 1987 Constitution, with several other senators pointing out that some bills certified as urgent by the President already address current economic concerns.

“I don’t think we have enough time as it is to take a quick look into the proposal…We have 5 [session] days to go before the sine die adjournment,” Sotto said in a message shared with reporters.

He was sought for comment on the House of Representatives’ second reading approval of Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2., which seeks to amend the “restrictive” economic provisions in the charter.

“Anyway, the bills certified by the Palace as urgent have passed or are in advanced stages in the Senate,” Sotto added.

The Senate leader was referring to proposed amendments to the Public Services Act (PSA), the Foreign Investment Act and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, which are seen to already address economic concerns in the Constitution.

Senator Grace Poe said an economic cha-cha “would probably deserve less attention given that we already have other foreign investment measures that are certified urgent.”

Poe said bills certified as urgent by the President already address the current economic concerns “but with much better safeguards.”

For instance, Poe said the bill seeking to amend the PSA “will allow more foreign investments to come in to give better services to the public, subject to well-calibrated safeguards.”

The measure amending the PSA is currently being sponsored by Poe in the Senate plenary.

She likewise said that the Foreign Investment Act “will further relax strict restrictions under the Negative List” while the measure seeking amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act “lowered the paid-up capital to allow more businesses to come in and give more jobs.”

“All of the gains of above measures can be had even without a cha-cha,” she said.

‘Not inclined to support’

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon likewise said the three bills are designed to “liberalize our investment climate without amending the Constitution.”

“My reading is that the Senators are not inclined to support amendments to the Constitution at this time. It was not even in the agenda of the [Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council] meeting yesterday, which means it is not a priority legislation,” he added.

Senator Panfilo Lacson also said “restrictive economic provisions” in the Constitution are already being addressed in the certified bills.

“Apparently, there is no compelling reason to amend the Charter without running afoul of the issue involving the manner of voting by the members of the two chambers of Congress – whether jointly or separately,” Lacson said.

“The senators assert that only the Supreme Court can interpret the provision to amend or revise the Charter. The problem is the absence of the cause of action that would trigger the Court to act and resolve the matter,” he added.

gsg