In the Philippines, house committee launches provincial consultations on constitutional amendments

The House of Representatives' Committee on Constitutional Amendments on [10 February] launched its provincial public consultations on charter change in Cagayan de Oro City. While the House's push for charter change will focus on economic provisions, lawmakers are ready to listen to political amendments, said Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who chairs the panel. [...] Almost every administration since the 1987 Constitution came into effect has seen several attempts to revise the charter, all of which failed due to general disagreements on the mode of amendments, the necessity of the amendments, and the general distrust that it could be used to perpetuate incumbent officials in power. Rodriguez said lawmakers planned to go to Iloilo next week, followed by other consultations in San Fernando, Pampanga and San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. The panel earlier held 3 public hearings and 2 public consultations at the Batasan Pambansa. [...] Attended by various members of the panel, the public consultation became an opportunity for lawmakers advocating charter change to campaign for revisions to the constitution and to answer questions from a generally friendly crowd.
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