Plenary debates on RBH 7 will be shorter, says House leader

The debates and interpellations on the proposed Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 will be shorter but exhaustive, a House leader said Monday. 

Majority Leader Manuel “Mannix” Dalipe, chairperson of the House Committee on Rules, said the Plenary debates on the committee report on RBH No. 7 will begin on March 11 until March 13. It is expected to be voted upon on second reading approval by Wednesday. 

“Based on our experience, the Plenary sponsorship and debates on the second reading of RBH7 will be quite a little bit shorter than those compared with the Committee of the Whole House wherein the resource persons were given more time,” Dalipe told reporters. 

“Although we will still exhaustively discuss this, that’s why we’re giving three days for the debates on second reading,” he said. 

The House Committee of the Whole approved RBH 7, which seeks to amend the 1987 Constitution by allowing increased foreign ownership of vital industries, on March 6 via voice vote. 

It likewise provides for the easing of the 40%-foreign ownership limit on education, public utilities, and advertising sectors by adding the phrase “unless provided for by law.”

Meanwhile, Dalipe said the House believes senators will be able to pass its counterpart measure, RBH No. 6, after Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri last week said that it would be a big challenge for the Senate to gather a majority vote to pass the proposed resolution. 

“We still believe that the Senate will be able to pass it…RBH No. 7 was just patterned after RBH No. 6, so ang assumption namin, the Senate will be able to pass it,” he said. — BM, GMA Integrated News