Padilla concludes RBH 6 hearings due to unresolved Cha-Cha voting

MANILA: Public hearings on Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 6, which seeks to remove restrictions on foreign ownership in public utilities, higher education, and advertising in the 1987 Constitution, were formally ended by Senator Robinhood Padilla on Tuesday. Padilla, who chairs the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, concluded the hearings due to the unresolved issue of whether the Senate and House of Representatives should vote jointly or separately in tackling amendments to the Charter. "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 (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,)" Padilla said. "Ang masidhing damdamin ng inyong lingkod para makamit ang kasagutan ang siy ang nagtulak para iakyat ko usapin sa Korte Suprema (This is why I asked the Supreme Court for guidance)." He noted that there is no need to spend more taxpayers' money to ask the same questions, saying the repeated discussions produced no concrete outcomes. Padilla said he is planning to incorporate the findings of the Subcommittee on RBH 6, which was led by former senator Sonny Angara, from previous hearings into his committee report. Source: Philippines News Agency