Senators want to see effects of new economic laws before supporting Cha-cha — Villanueva

The senators want to see first the effects of the three new economic laws before supporting moves to amend the so-called restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said Friday.

"Marami namang open don sa [amendment of] economic provisions pero ang nakikita ko rin sa aking pakikipag-usap sa kanila 'yung 'wait and see' doon sa mga pinasa nating batas," Villanueva said in an online interview with reporters.

He was referring to the Public Service Act, Foreign Investments Act, and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act.

The majority leader shared this when asked about Senator Robin Padilla's statement that Charter change has better chances in the Senate if they will limit it to the economic provisions.

"Doon sa economic provisions, we cannot identify clearly na ito lang ang paraan— buksan muli ang sacred Constitution, the soul of the nation... just for this," Villanueva said.

"We wanted to find out ito lang ba talaga ang paraan? Why not come up with another law if there is a need [for] one because again, we have yet to experience the effects of these laws that we just passed recently. Even the President himself made mention about it," he added.

Villanueva said that even President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has no support for moves to amend the Charter.

"It looks like we have the same predicament ng Palasyo dito, karamihan sa miyembro ng Senado na, ito tingnan muna ang tatlong batas na napasa natin," he said.

In February, Marcos stated that Charter change is not his priority.

Despite this, the House of Representatives is still passing measures to amend the 1987 Constitution.

In the Senate, Padilla, chairman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes, is holding public hearings in different parts of the country to seek inputs on the Resolution of Both Houses No. 3— a measure he filed seeking to amend the economic provisions of the Charter.

The first public hearing was held in Davao City last week. Padilla's panel is set to hold similar consultations in Baguio City and Cebu.

Padilla earlier stated that amending the Constitution is not dependent on the endorsement of the sitting president.—AOL, GMA Integrated News