In the Philippines, house panel approves resolution for constitutional convention

A House of Representatives panel approved on [20 February] a proposal calling for a constitutional convention to change the 1987 Constitution, in a bid to ease restrictions on economy. Voting 16-3 in favor of the resolution with one abstain, the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments approved the still-unnumbered Resolution of Both Houses, consolidating different proposals in favor of a constitutional convention. [...] The House, which held its seventh and last public consultation on Charter change on [20 February], has heard several arguments from economic and political science experts, legal luminaries and Framers of the 1987 Constitution to arrive at a consensus on whether to change the Constitution or not, or how the Congress can best go about it. The approved resolution stated that holding a constitutional convention to amend or revise the Charter would be the "most transparent, exhaustive, democratic and least divisive means of implementing constitutional reforms” among other options. Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro), committee chairperson, said that [...] the committee will still discuss the accompanying bill, which includes the procedure, expenditures and other details needed to hold the constitutional convention. [...] Rep. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Women’s Party), among the three lawmakers from the Makabayan bloc who opposed the resolution, however raised that current issues plaguing the country, such as inflation, poverty and landlessness, do not stem from the 1987 Constitution. [...] If greenlighted by Congress, the election of delegates for the constitutional convention would cost the government at least P28 billion if held as a separate poll, or P231 million if held simultaneously with the next elections, according to estimates from the National Economic and Development Authority presented during the committee hearing.
Read the full article here: Philstar