Angara: Cha-cha panel report expected after SONA

The report of the Senate subcommittee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes on Resolution on Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 is expected to be out after Congress' sine die break, Senator Sonny Angara said.

However, the senators have yet to decide whether they will proceed with the plenary deliberations on the measure proposing amendments to certain economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

"We’ll work during the break to produce the committee report and then sponsor natin pagbalik siguro (maybe upon our return). We will have the break to finish the committee report," Angara said  in an interview with reporters.

"But, of course, we have to consult our colleagues kung ano 'yung (what will be the) next step. As you know, merong mga ayaw (there are others hesitant) to go further because they feel – it’s laying the predicate for a case to be filed in the Supreme Court. It’s said on record. That’s something we have to settle internally," Angara said.

Congress will go on sine die break on May 24 and will open sessions on July 22 or the day of the President's State of the Nation Address.

Unlike the deliberations of RBH 6's counterpart measure in the House of Representatives, Angara cannot make an assurance that the Senate will also finish the deliberations within a short period of time, noting the tradition of the chamber in interpellating every measure.

"We have a few months to do the debates. As you know, it can take anywhere – one senator can take several weeks – as you’ve seen with some of the bills that we are sponsoring now. [For example], [the] Procurement Law, I think we’re on our third or fourth week already," he said.

Resumption of hearings

The Senate subcommittee resumed its hearings on RBH6 earlier in the day, focusing on the provision on advertising industry in the country.

During the hearing, several stakeholders gave their respective positions on relaxing foreign ownership on the advertising industry.

IBC 13 President and CEO Jose Policarpio Jr. opposed to the proposal to put the "unless otherwise provided by law" at the end of the constitutional provision on advertising agency.

Manila Bulletin President and United Print Multimedia Group of the Philippines representative Barbie Atienza pointed out that the digital media has changed the advertising landscape and it should be considered in discussing the restructure of the constitutional provision on advertising industry's ownership.

Further, Atienza raised the implications of relaxing the provision on foreign ownership in the industry to editorial independence.

DDB Group Philippines Group Chief Culture Officer Anna Chua-Norbert, citing the company's experience being a multi-national agency but with 97 percent local ownership of the franchise, said they are concerned about the proposal.

The local ownership of the agency, she said, enabled them to control the operations, and they did not find foreign ownership "valuable" to them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further, Chua-Norbert warned that the revenues of the agency might go to the foreign owners rather to the local businesses if the provision in the constitution will be relaxed.

On the other hand, Artzap Studio's Renalli Trajano said giving more stakes to foreigners would allow them to strategize better in their business.

"We believe, as a business owner, that inviting them and giving them more power will help the business grow and be global and will have a global impact, then I think we should go for it," she said.

"I think it is our right as business owners to have 100 percent freedom to give whatever percentage that we feel like will work," she added.

After the hearings in the Senate, Angara said the subcommittee is set to hold consultative meetings in Baguio, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro in the next few weeks before they craft the committee report.

The counterpart measure of RBH 6 in the House of Representatives was already passed on third and final reading last March. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News