CAMARINES Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte on Sunday said he sees something “positive” in the controversy surrounding the amendment to the Constitution, and this is the ascendancy of the Charter change as an issue pervading not only the Congress but of the whole nation as well.

“At least we’re very happy that the issue of Charter Change is now being discussed nationally. There were already moves to amend the Constitution as early as the 10th Congress during the time of then-president Ramos,” Villafuerte, National Unity Party (NUP) president, said.

Guesting over “Headstart,” Villafuerte described the move by the Senate to start discussing Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 (RHB 6) at the committee level as a “positive development,” as this helped bring to national attention the urgency of amending the anachronistic economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Critics argue now, as they did in the past, that it’s not the time for Charter change, according to Villafuerte, but we should have done a makeover of the Constitution a long time ago to rid it of the restrictive economic provisions that have spooked investors.

Restrictions on foreign participation in Philippine businesses have prevented the country, he said, from generating the high level of investments and jobs long enjoyed by our more prosperous neighbors.

Villafuerte said the House passed last year yet its version of RHB 6, which he had co-authored, but our senators “did not act on it for 11 months now.

They have been sitting on it … what is clear right now is there should be a change in the Constitution for us to be updated globally. I think nobody will disagree with that.

Those saying that we don’t need it (to amend the Constitution), they have to justify it. Do we wait for another decade and miss the boat? Should we wait for Laos, Cambodia, Burma to overtake us before we act?” he asked.

But after the controversy over the latest push for constitutional reform, this time via the People’s Initiative (PI), gained national traction since January, he recalled that Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri himself assured President Marcos that the Senate would begin discussing its version of RHB 6 this month.

This led to the creation of a subcommittee headed by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara that recently kicked-off public hearings on RHB 6, which, like the House-approved version, limits amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution.

Villafuerte recalled that as early as the 17th Congress, he had already advocated for constitutional reform, and by way of a duly-elected Constitutional Convention (Con-Con).

However, he said on TV that it’s up to the people to decide which of the three modes enshrined in the Constitution for Charter change to take place.

Aside from the Con-Con and PI, the third option under the Constitution is for the Congress to convene into a Constituent Assembly (Con-Ass) to study and recommend amendments to the Charter.

But what is important, he said, is for us to “move forward. Let’s talk about Charter change. Let’s help the country progress, move forward. And all the talk about disagreements should be done in a professional manner.

Huwag yung name-calling. The fact that RBH 6 is being discussed in the Senate, we’re thankful and we’re happy, and we’re willing to work with them to help propel the country to become an economic powerhouse.”

Villafuerte bewailed that the integrity of the House and its members have recklessly and unfairly been put into question by the surprise move by senators to make them the subject of their ongoing inquiry into the PI initiative that was launched recently from the grassroots by convenors from the private sector, and which has since then gained support across the country.

“The NUP wholeheartedly endorses this resolution, and we pledge to defend the independence and integrity of this House as we remain committed to the relentless quest for our nation’s sustainable progress and prosperity,” Villafuerte said.

HR 1562 expressed the chamber’s “unwavering solidarity and support to the leadership of the honorable Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and upholding the integrity and honor of the House of Representatives in the face of intense assault from the Senate in violation of the principle of inter-parliamentary courtesy and unde interference in the performance of its legislative and constituent functions.”

Villafuerte said the NUP is seeking “a restoration of dignified discourse and a recommitment to the principles of inter-chamber respect and courtesy, and the continuous pursuit of a close and harmonious working relationship between the Senate and the House for the greatest good of our people.”

He pointed out that in a bicameral setup like the Philippine Congress, “respect, civility and decorum among members of both chambers forbid legislators belonging to one body to be investigating those of the other, and more so when there is actually nothing to investigate about such peers.”

Last January, before the PI controversy between the Senate and the House deepened, Villafuerte appealed to senators to put the urgency for amending the 1987 Constitution at “front and center” of the national debate rather than befuddle the people with bogus issues.