The House Committee on Constitutional Amendments has endorsed for plenary approval the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution, including the lifting of the restrictive provisions of the 32-year-old charter.
Cagayan de Oro Second District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, in an interview, said the resolution was approved during his committee’s executive session last Wednesday. He said they approved the unnumbered Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) in an executive meeting as they already conducted several public consultations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and “there were no more resource persons to hear.”
According to Rodriguez, the House of Representatives will begin the plenary debates of the RBH next week.
The RBH is principally authored by Rodriguez, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, Isabela Rep. Antonio Albano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Alan Velasco.
The measure seeks to amend Articles VI (Legislative Department), X (Local Government), XII (National Patrimony), XIV (Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports) and XVI (General Provisions) of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines.
The resolution seeks to amend the provisions of the Constitution, particularly Section 2, Section 3, Section 4, Section 7, Section 10, Section 11, of Article XII, or the National Patrimony and Economy, by inserting “unless otherwise provided by law.” These amendments seek to relax the restrictive foreign ownership to attract more foreign investments.
Earlier, the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC), which threw its support behind the economic Cha-cha, said restrictions on foreign investments make the economy less competitive by imposing constraints to growth that result in lower investments, fewer jobs, poorer infrastructure and less inclusive development.
Ease of doing business
Rodriguez said these constitutional amendments will further improve the rank of the Philippines in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business report as proven by the 29-notch leap from 124th to 95th in the 2019 edition of the report.
“These [amendments] will lift all these restrictions so we can pull in more investments in the country,” he said.
With the current growing global interest in Asia, the resolution noted that it now becomes an “imperative response” to further enhance the country’s economic policies which will allow the Philippines to compete for more foreign investments.
Also, under the resolution, the president and the vice president shall be elected as a team. A vote for the presidential candidate shall be counted as a vote for his or her vice presidential candidate.
For the legislative department, the resolution said there shall be 27 (from 24) senators who will each get a five year-term from the following regions: Capital Region, northern Luzon, southern Luzon, Bicol region, Eastern Visayas, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
The resolution noted that no senator shall serve for more than three consecutive terms.
For the lower chamber, members of the House of Representatives shall be elected for a term of five years, while no member shall serve for more than three consecutive terms.
It also extends the term of local government unit officials from three years to five years.
Also, the RBH said all congressional lawmakers and LGU officials would be eligible to be reelected twice, but it will not cover incumbent lawmakers and elected local officials.
“It behooves upon the members of the Congress to respond and initiate the crafting of the needed institutional reforms that would bring in vibrant economic environment, improved quality of life for our people, and the fulfillment of one long-standing desire to provide inclusive growth and prosperity to the entire segment of our society,” the resolution read.
Under the resolution, the proposal shall be approved by a vote of three-fourths of all its members, each House voting separately.
For his part, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate described the closed-door approval as a “very dangerous action.”
However, Rodriguez said the clamor and sentiment from a broad cross-section of society seeking a review of certain provisions in the Philippine Constitution have been sustained.