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Friday, March 29, 2024

Solon assures political move out of Cha-cha

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Albay Rep. Joey Salceda has given assurances the House of Representatives will not touch the political provisions in its revived efforts to amend the 1987 Constitution.

Salceda, chairperson of the House commitee on ways and means, said the discussion would only focus on the economic provisions, as proposed in Resolution of Both Houses filed by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.

Salceda said any move to amend the political provisions would be “dead on arrival.”

“If the discussion on Charter change involves politics, its a goodbye,” Salceda said.

Salceda explained that the suggestion to reform the party-list system would only need legislation and not Charter change.

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He said there appeared to be a consensus in the House to review the economic provisions in the Constitution that prevented foreign ownership of land and businesses in the country, noting that the Philippines was one of the most restrictive economies in the world.

The Bicolano lawmaker agreed with Velasco that the Philippines needed foreign direct investments (FDIs) to offset the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the country stood to gain an additional $5-7 billion annually in FDIs once the restrictions set by the Constitution on foreign ownership of businesses in the country has been lifted.

Salceda, however, stressed that the hearings on RBH 2 in the House of Representatives would focus only on adding the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” on Articles XII, XIV, and XVI of the 1987 Constitution.

“The position of the House is really just to amend to include the line ‘unless otherwise provided by law.’ Based po sa need ng country,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the House of Representatives' Committee on Constitutional Amendments on Monday appealed to senators to keep an open mind on the proposed amendments to the "restrictive" economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution to open up the country to foreign investments.

The panel's chairman, Ako-Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. made the statement as his panel is set to deliberate Wednesday on the proposed economic Charter Change as contained in Resolution of Both Houses No. 2.

"For the first time in the 33-year history of our Constitution, we in the House see that economic Cha-cha can succeed, if only our counterparts in the Senate will keep an open mind on it and agree to consider relevant proposals from us and from their own colleagues," Garbin said.

Garbin also assured senators that amending the economic provisions in the Constitution would pave the way for political amendments as well, such as extending the term of office of incumbent elective officials and lifting of term limits.

"We are not proposing to open the basic law of the land to revisions. We want to limit ourselves to provisions relating to the economy and national patrimony. We will not touch the political sections of the Charter,” he said.

“The Speaker’s assurance will serve as our word of honor. In compliance with the Speaker’s instruction, my committee will not entertain any political amendment proposal,” he added.

This developed as Deputy Speaker and Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera backed efforts efforts of the leadership to review the restrictive economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution, saying such effort will help improve the country’s ability to lure a critical mass of foreign investors, especially in the telecommunications industry.

Herrera said that allowing some flexibility to bring in foreign investments will be key for the economy to stage a sustainable recovery from the devastation caused by COVID-19 last year.

According to Herrera, the pandemic had underscored the importance of having affordable, fast, and stable mobile and internet connections, which “unfortunately was not the case in the Philippines because of lack of competition in the telco industry.”

“We suffer from expensive and slow internet connections because we barely have no choice. For the longest time, the country’s telco industry is dominated by only two firms, thus the duopoly,” Herrera said.

Herrera said she was hopeful the long-standing issue of poor connectivity in the country would be addressed once the economic provisions in the 33-year-old Charter are liberalized, particularly on foreign ownership.

The Constitution limits foreign ownership of the operation of public utilities such as telco to only 40 percent, and reserves the other 60 percent to Filipino citizens or corporations.

Herrera said this limitation had been a solid constraint on the inflow of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the country and in increasing competition in the market.

“The entry of foreign companies through relaxing some gov't policies would certainly help improve the quality of goods and services in the market, give consumers more choices, and keep prices generally affordable,” Herrera pointed out.

Velasco also earlier said that opening up the country to foreign investors was crucial to help the Philippine economy recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"As global economies slowly start to reopen, we cannot allow the Philippines to lag behind in terms of investments and opportunities. We need to seize the momentum if we are to fully recover from the economic devastation of COVID-19," Velasco said.

"RBH 2 seeks to liberalize the restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution that prevent us from becoming fully competitive with our Asian neighbors," he added.

Under RBH 2, the phrase "unless otherwise provided by law" will be included in the provision that reserves certain areas of investments to citizens of the Philippines or to corporations at least 60 percent of whose capital is owned by Filipinos.

The same phrase is also added in the provisions which limit ownership of educational institutions and mass media to Filipinos.

The measure also introduces the same phrase to the provision allowing the State to undertake exploration, development, and utilization activities on the country's natural resources.

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