Panay Today
With a vote of 288 in favor, eight against, and two abstentions, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading of the Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 last March 20, 2024. Said resolution contains its own set of proposed amendments to the Constitution’s restrictive economic provisions.
RBH No. 7 was principally authored by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Third District Representative Aurelio Gonzales Jr., Deputy Speaker and Quezon Representative David Suarez, Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe, Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, and other House leaders.
The aforementioned resolution was quickly approved so that the timeline set by Speaker Romualdez be followed, according to Representative Gonzales.
RBH No. 7 was cloned from RBH No. 6 filed in the Senate by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Angara and Legarda. It aims to empower Congress to lift or relax present economic restrictions in the nation’s basic law by allowing foreign investors to have full ownership of higher education facilities and others.
As for Representative France Castro of the ACT Teachers Partylist, this move must be strongly opposed as it intends to sell education to foreigners, making it inaccessible to the public due to the foreseen increase in school fees.
Castro also urged the teachers, students, and others in the education sector to oppose Marcos’s cha-cha as it would destroy the education of our country. She added that instead of cha-cha, Marcos Jr. should give more attention to the lack of decent employment in the country and the continuous increase in the price of basic commodities.
In related news, Senator Robin Padilla is planning to file another cha-cha bid, which contains not just economic but also political amendments. Amongst political amendments being pushed is to extend the term limits for elected officials./PT
