Lawmakers now at the forefront of efforts to amend the 1987 Constitution at the House of Representatives on Monday rejected calls from business groups to limit the Charter change (Cha-cha) initiative to the economic provisions.
“The suggestion that this attempt at Charter change be limited to the economic provisions is unwise, partly because, as the business sector knows, governance issues are also at the core of the medium-term and long-term development goals. To neglect governance is to just partly solve decades-old problems,” said Rep. Roger G. Mercado of the Lone Disttrict of Southern Leyte, chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments.
He added: “It is also unwise, because it would be wasted opportunity to overlook governance issues at this time when the combined political capital of President Duterte and of Congress is enough to deliver on the commitment to give Filipinos a government that is closer to them and away from Imperial Manila.”
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said their resolve to revise the Charter according to the needs of the Filipino people will not be swayed by interest groups.
“We will try our best to come up with the best revision of the Constitution that will benefit the people, not just the interest of some sectors,” Alvarez stressed. “They are only after their own interest, of businessmen. What about the people?”
The House Committee on Constitutional Amendments has created Sub Committee 4 to review Articles XI, XII, XIII, XIV and XV of the 1987 Constitution. Its work covers the economic provisions and has been gathering inputs through public consultations done in 2016 and 2017, including proposals from the business community.
“We wish to assure the business community that seeming disagreements between the House and Senate are simply part of the dynamics of the same democracy that produces the free market environment wherein businesses thrive,” Mercado said.
Earlier, the Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines and the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines urged Congress to prioritize the amendment of the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership.
The business groups said they back Congress’s Cha-cha initiative, particularly the proposal to lift economic restrictions in the Constitution, as this will pave the way for a more conducive business environment.
Last week Rep. Vicente S.E. Veloso of the Third District of Leyte, chairman of one of the subcommittees proposing amendments to 1987 Constitution, said the proposed Philippine federal government will provide for an “open economy.” Veloso’s subcommittee has proposed to delete the provision in the 1987 Constitution providing the 60-40 limit on foreign-equity sharing.
Under the proposal, the areas that will be freed from the said restriction include: exploitation, development and utilization of natural resources, ownership of alienable lands, franchise on public utilities, practice of profession, ownership of educational institutions, mass media and advertising.
It added that equity sharing, as well as the terms and conditions involving joint ventures and other undertakings involving the aforementioned areas, shall be determined through legislation.
Moreover, the proposal said the goals of the national economy under the proposed new Charter seeks to increase the amount of goods and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people.
It also seeks to expand the “productivity as the key to raising the quality of life for all, especially the underprivileged and a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income and wealth.”
The proposal added that the state shall enhance economic efficiency and promote free competition in trade, industry and commercial activities.