The chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, on Wednesday appealed to the Senate to give the proposed amendments to the economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution a chance.

Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., committee chair, made the call a day after his panel adopted Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2, which seeks to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the 34-year-old Charter by inserting the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law”.

The resolution particularly seeks to introduce five amendments to Article XII (National Patrimony and Economy), one amendment to Article XIV (Education, Science, and Technology), and one amendment to Article XVI (General Provisions).

“Sana bigyan ito ng tsansa ng ating counterparts sa Senado (I hope that our Senate counterparts would give this a chance),” Garbin said in a media forum.

The measure prescribes a constituent assembly to propose amendments to the Constitution, which requires a vote of three-fourths of all the members of Congress, each house voting separately.

Garbin expressed hope that the proposed amendments will be approved by both houses of Congress, in time for the 2022 national elections, where the amendments will be voted upon by the public through a plebiscite.

“Dapat ang taumbayan ang mag-apruba nito, dapat yung taumbayan ang magsabi na ito’y acceptable (The public should approve of this, and they should have the final say if it is acceptable),” Garbin said. Bigyan ito ng tsansa upang maibato sa mamamayang Pilipino na tunay naman na nagmamay-ari ng Konstitusyon. Ibato natin ito sa isang plebisito (Let’s give this a chance to let the Filipinos, who truly own the Constitution, decide. We should do this through a plebiscite).”

He said the RBH 2 is part of a long-term strategy to send a signal to the investment community that “we are truly liberalizing our economy and opening the country to foreign direct investment” to help mitigate the adverse impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. (PNA)