Senate to finish RBH6 hearings before break

MANILA, Philippines — The 19th Congress is on its last week before adjourning sine die but the Senate subcommittee on constitutional amendments has yet to wrap up public hearings on the Resolution of Both Houses 6 (RBH6), seeking to amend economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Congress is set to adjourn on May 25, but both the Senate and the House of Representatives traditionally hold plenary sessions from Monday to Wednesday, thus they only have three session days left: May 20, 21 and 22.

The Senate subcommittee headed by Sen. Sonny Angara scheduled two public hearings at the Waterfront in Cebu City on Thursday and Xavier Sports and Country Club in Cagayan de Oro City on Friday, both set to start at 1 p.m.

Last Friday, Angara’s subcommittee held a consultative meeting in Baguio City with education and private sector stakeholders on the proposal to lift foreign ownership limits in the Constitution.

The hearing was attended by Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong, Baguio Rep. Mark Go and representatives from the local business sector and academe.

“It was a very productive multi-sectoral hearing, where we saw different points of view. This is an opportunity to address their problems (about the economic Charter change),” Angara said after the hearing.

“This is an honest-to-goodness consultation because transparency and accountability are important principles when talking about the country’s economic interests,” he added.

The Senate’s RBH6 – authored by Angara, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate President Pro-Tempore Loren Legarda – is pushing for easing the Charter’s foreign ownership restrictions on public utilities, the higher education sector and advertising, through legislation.

Angara’s subcommittee has so far conducted four public hearings on Feb. 5, 12, 20, March 5 and May 17, which tackled general provisions of the proposal to amend specific economic clauses of the Constitution, particularly in public service, the education sector and advertising industry.

The first four public hearings were attended by legal luminaries, business executives and representatives from the education sector.