Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Wednesday reiterated that the House of Representatives, under the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, will not consider constitutional amendment proposals that are political in nature.
Rodriguez, who chairs the House constitutional amendments committee, made the statement in reaction to Resolution of Both Houses No. 8, which proposes to lengthen the term of office of congressmen from three years to five years, with a limit of two consecutive terms or 10 years, instead of three terms or nine years.
The resolution is authored by Ilocos Norte Rep. Angelo Barba. It was filed last Monday.
“I think the House leadership will not favor this proposal. The Speaker has repeatedly declared that the push for Charter reform at this time is confined to amending the Constitution’s restrictive economic provisions,” Rodriguez said.
He said the collective stand of the Speaker and House members on economic Charter reform is consistent with the unequivocal declaration of President Marcos Jr. in his Philconsa speech on Feb. 8 this year.
Rodriguez quoted the President as telling the group of constitutionalists:
“I want to make it clear: This Administration’s position in introducing reforms to our Constitution extends to economic matters alone, or those strategically aimed at boosting our country’s economy. Nothing more.”
The Mindanao lawmaker pointed out that the economic Charter amendment proposals of the House, principally authored by Speaker Romualdez, have been sent to the Senate months ago for its own consideration.
“So the ball on the proposed changes in the Constitution’s economic provisions is now in the Senate’s court,” he said.
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