THE leadership of the House of Representatives will take its cue from the Senate which will now take the lead on the proposal to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the 37-year-old Constitution.

This revelation was made during the resumption of the daily press briefings at the House of Representatives by members of the so-called “Young Guns” in the chamber, who were asked to react on the new resolution filed by Sen. Robin Padilla calling for amendments to the Charter via the constitutional convention route.

“I think our Speaker who gave us clearly his leadership direction … is that we will let the Senate take the lead … He made it very clear to all of us and to the nation that as far as the House is concerned, we are specifically only interested in (amending) the economic provisions,” said Lanao del Norte Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo.

“As far as the Con-Con is concerned and what contents there are, I think there has been also a counterpart that has been filed here in the House. So we can more or less give it to the Senate on a silver platter,” he added.

“Sila (Senate) na lang mag-decide on what they feel is best for the Filipino people. And then when the time comes, both the House and the Senate will work together hand in hand to deliver what is best for the Filipino people under the presidency of PBBM.”

For PBA Partylist Rep. Margarita “Atty. Migs” Nograles, a lawyer, the Senate is well within its right if it decides to tackle the Resolution of Both Houses No. 8 filed by Sen. Padilla.

“But as far as we here in the House, we have tackled that, we have exhaustively looked into the economic provisions (of the Constitution) solely and we have yet to see kung ano po ang gagawin ng Senate diyan, kung ano iyong aspeto sa Con-Con, ano iyong scope niyon,” she said.

“Sana tingnan na lang din po nila ‘yung natapos na po dito sa Congress at mag-discuss sila ng mga bagay-bagay especially what regards to what has exhaustively been discussed what you’ve heard on the economic provisions (of the Charter),” she added, pertaining to RBH 7 that was approved on final reading in the House.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong agreed with both Dimaporo and Nograles that the House, under the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, has already delivered its commitment to the President and the Filipino people to approve amendments to economic provisions of the Constitution to open our country to foreign investments.

“While ‘yung ganyang klaseng introduction doon sa kanilang resolution, to me personally, is just a minor concern. What is really the most important issue that we need to talk about – and we have already delivered –is yung intention of really revisiting the Constitution and specifically to discuss specific provisions, which is the economic provision in the Constitution,” Adiong said.

Meanwhile, Adiong said, the House will be busy deliberating on pending pieces of legislation and exercising its oversight functions while waiting for a more definitive Senate action on proposals for constitutional economic reforms.

“If we can improve in strengthening our laws para po sa kapakanan ng ating taongbayan, that’s the direction Speaker Martin, the leader of the House of Representatives, would like to pursue in the remaining weeks of our session before we call for sine die,” Adiong said.

For 1-RIDER Partylist Rep. Rodge L. Gutierrez, also a lawyer, whatever the Senate decides on regarding the mode by which to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution, the House will follow the lead of the Senate.

“I think very clear naman, consistent po iyung House, whatever option the Senate will prefer, the Senate taking the lead after all, ready naman po iyung House to respond. Kung gusto po nila ng Con-Con, I believe you already have the resolution file for that,” Gutierrez said.

“Kung gusto naman nila ng Con-Ass to proceed, we’re already done with RBH7,” he added.

“So at the end of the day, kung ano man na procedure ang gusto nila, as long as we get the economic reform that has been a cornerstone so far of the legislative agenda, we are more than willing, I think, to participate,” he said.

Davao Oriental Rep. Cheeno Miguel Almario said the House leadership has already expressed its intention to introduce economic reforms to the Constitution, and that he hopes the Senate and the House cooperate on these amendments.

“We can explore as many options as we want, but again the facts still remain: that the economic provisions, the economic improvement hopefully to the country, will be pushed by both houses,” Almario said.

“So we’ve done our job, we’ve already done everything we can, we’ve researched it, you know, we defended it and now the ball is in their court. I hope that everything goes into order and that everybody also has the same idea of what’s best to do for the improvement of the country,” he added.