MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Robinhood Padilla said he will keep on pushing for amending the 1987 Constitution even if it is not a priority of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., saying a president's support might not matter much when it comes to changes to the charter.
Padilla has been vocal about favoring a shift to federalism but has also filed a joint resolution for a constitutent assembly to liberalize economic provisions in the constitution to allow full foreign ownership in enterprises.
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Speaking on Super Radyo dzBB, Padilla said that pushing for constitutional amendments does not fall on the president anyway, but on Congress. He added that former President Rodrigo Duterte was open to amending the constitution — federalism was a campaign promise — "but nothing happened."
"It came alive at the House but it was killed at the Senate," he said in Filipino of the Duterte administration's push for federalism, which was set aside in 2017 for lack of interest.
"This is not a question of the president endorsing it or not," he said, stressing that limitations on foreign ownership keep the Philippines from getting the most of trade agreements. He said that limiting ownership would mean "letting foreign products into the country while keeping investors out."
He said that economic provisions should be amended so Congress can craft laws that would allow foreign ownership in certain industries "so there will be sense and relevance in our entering trade treaties and agreements."
A president's endorsement of a legislative proposal does have weight, however, with bills certified as urgent having a bigger chance of getting the votes of administration allies in Congress.
RELATED: House panel to discuss charter change even if Marcos says it's not a priority
Not a Senate priority
Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri has said that Padilla can continue to hold hearings on constitutional amendments as chair of the committee for it, but that is not a priority of the Senate.
"That is only natural," Padilla said, since charter change is not among the priorities discussed by the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council, which seeks to make approval of the administration's legislative agenda smoother.
"This is my job and it falls on me to do it," Padilla, who also said that the latest move is a first step towards an eventual shift to a federal and parliamentary form of government, said.
Talk of constitutional convention has also gone on at the House of Representatives, where House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has supported opening up the economy to foreign ownership. The Committee on Constitutional Amendments has approved a joint resolution that would form a constitutional convention to amend the constitution.
This means that the chambers will have to agree not just on whether the constitution should be amended but also on how that will be done.
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