Vice presidential candidate Francis “Chiz” Escudero said relaxing certain economic provisions in the Charter should take a back seat to improving the conditions that would make investment opportunities here more appealing to foreign investors.
The senator said he believed that poor infrastructure, legal challenges and unstable policies are doing more harm to the country’s business environment than what many considered as restrictive provisions of the Constitution.
“I reiterated my answer that according to survey, this is not the foremost reason why investors are not coming in. Foremost, unstable policies; second, court interference; third, lack of infrastructure. These are what I want to address,” said Escudero.
According to the Philippines Statistics Authority, total foreign investments approved in the first quarter of 2015 reached P58 billion, 21 percent less than 2014’s P73 billion, while the total for the second quarter amounted to P36.2 billion, or up only by 0.5 percent over the same period last year.
Approved investments of foreign and local businesses dropped by as much as 65.1 percent to P90 billion in the second quarter of 2015 from P257.8 billion recorded the previous year. PSA also said Filipino businessmen continued to dominate the local scene, kicking in some 59.8 percent or about a total of P53.8 billion.
Escudero supported calls to lift the nationality requirements in establishing businesses in the country; however, ownership of land shall remain exclusive to Filipinos.
He reiterated his stand that he will not allow ownership of land to foreigners. “But in businesses, perhaps, yes.”
“For example, in the media, CNN and BBC are inside my room, but I do not even know who are their owners, and they might be Filipinos. Up to now in the Constitution, that’s still 100 percent, that should be changed,” he added.