Sotto: Key liberalization bills before economic Cha-cha
June 15, 2021 05:01 PM
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III says the Senate will be hurdling three liberalization bills before Economic Cha-cha.
"We have enough time to tackle it. We should not be rushing it because after passing the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Public Service Act, and the Foreign Investments Act, those three laws might be able to address what the economic Cha-cha wants to address."
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said that the upper house will be prioritizing the approval of three key liberalization bills, instead of amending the economic provisions of the Constitution.
There is no rush in addressing economic charter change, Sotto told reporters.
"We have enough time to tackle it. We should not be rushing it because after passing the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Public Service Act, and the Foreign Investments Act, those three laws might be able to address what the economic Cha-cha wants to address," the Senate chief explained.
Congress will resume session on July 26, after its current two-month break which started on June 5. Both houses will return at the time of President Rodrigo Duterte's final State of the Nation Address.
According to Sotto, only one liberalization bill, namely Senate Bill 1840, was passed on third and final reading on May 19. The said measure seeks to amend the Retail Trade Liberalization Act. The amendment focuses on assisting the country's economic recovery during the COVID pandemic by lessening requirements for foreign retailers to attract more investments into the local market.
Senate Bill 2094, meanwhile, aims to amend the Public Service Act, and Senate Bill 1156 seeks to amend the Foreign Investments Act. Both measures are still pending on second reading.
The Senate chief stated that Congress might not even get to address the proposed economic Cha-cha by August or September, or even by February next year. However, if Senate approves the changes in the economic provisions of the Charter, it will still need a plebiscite, which falls around the time of next year's elections.
