After ceasefire, House hopes Senate passes RBH6 by March

MANILA, Philippines — Administration lawmakers, under the leadership of Speaker Martin Romualdez in the House of Representatives, are hoping that an inter-parliamentary ceasefire the senators initiated will result in their promise to pass economic reforms in the 1987 Constitution.

House Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe, Deputy Speaker David Suarez and Rep. LRay Villafuerte called on Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to honor his commitment to pass Resolution of Both Houses 6 (RBH6) by March, a self-imposed deadline.

This was reportedly Zubiri’s promise to President Marcos and Romualdez during a recent event in Malolos, Bulacan where they were guests at the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the first Philippine Republic.

“We hold them (Zubiri and the senators) to this commitment, which was even reported in the media. The House is just waiting for the Senate to approve RBH 6 so we can quickly adopt it,” Dalipe, who represents Zamboanga City, said.

He earlier vowed to “adopt in toto” the Senate version of RBH 6.

House leaders assured senators they will “embrace” and will have “no questions asked” to the Senate version of the economic only provisions that they wanted amended in the 37-year-old Constitution, if only to arrive at a starting point, since it’s been almost 40 years of stalemate.

Suarez expressed confidence Zubiri will be “true to his word” and jumpstart the discussions on RBH 6, and eventually rally the needed 18 votes for the resolution that would pave the way for amendments to the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

“We in the House believe that SP Zubiri will be true to his word and walk the talk in realizing his commitment to President Marcos to approve RBH 6 before the Holy Week break this year, which is by the end of March,” the Quezon province second district congressman said.

Villafuerte, for his part, called on their Senate counterparts to focus their energy instead on passing RBH 6 before Congress’ Holy Week break, that would finally give the green light to the bicameral push for amending the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution.

“The Senate hearings on the people’s initiative process, initiated by