Sen. Robinhood “Robin” C. Padilla on Tuesday formally ended public hearings on a resolution regarding restrictions on foreign ownership in public utilities, higher education and advertising in the 1987 Constitution.
Padilla, chair of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, said a subcommittee headed by then Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara already tackled the proposed changes as listed in Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6.
Making matters worse, he lamented, is that the issue of whether the Senate and House of Representatives are to vote jointly or separately in tackling amendments to the Charter remains unresolved to this day.
“Aking gustong iparating sa ating mga kababayan na itong RBH na ginawa ng pagdinig ng ating kaibigan si Sen. Angara ay isasarado natin ito. Ia-adjourn natin ang pagdinig na ito, ginawan na namin ito ng pagdinig (I want to report to our people that I am terminating hearings on the resolution of both houses tackled by former Sen. Angara. We will adjourn this since hearings had already been conducted on this),” he said.
“Hindi na natin kailangang umikot uli at gumastos uli at tanungin uli. Paulit ulit na tanong pero babagsakan nito wala rin (We do not need to spend taxpayers’ money just to ask the same questions. We have repeatedly touched on the issue but nothing has come out of it),” he added.
Padilla said he will incorporate the findings of the hearings chaired by then Senator Angara to his committee report.
In terminating hearings on RBH 6, Padilla also lamented the “chicken and egg” issue of whether the Senate and House will vote jointly or separately when tackling constitutional amendments.
He said this was why he filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking its guidance on the matter.
“Katulad ito ng katanungan ano nauna, itlog o manok. Maghahain ng pagbabago ang mambabatas pero mauuwi sa wala sapagka’t walang kasagutan kung boboto ng magkasama o hiwalay ang member ng Kongreso. Ang masidhing damdamin ng inyong lingkod para makamit ang kasagutan ang siyang nagtulak para iakyat ko usapin sa Korte Suprema (This is like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. Any proposal filed in Congress will be useless because there is no answer on whether both houses of Congress will vote jointly or separately. This is why I asked the Supreme Court for guidance),” he said.
