A congressional leader has appealed to the Senate to give economic Charter Change a chance.
Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, principal sponsor of the proposed Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) 2 that seeks to amend the economic restrictions of the 1987 Constitution, made the appeal as Congress will commence deliberations on the proposal once session resumes on May 17.
“The House will do its part. That is for certain. But we hope the Senate begins deliberating soon. The timing is efficient since we could have the plebiscite along with the 2022 elections,” said Salceda, chairman of the House committee on ways and means.
Salceda at the same time reassured the public that the House has no intention of introducing political provisions to the proposed revisions.
“RBH 2 is pure economic reform. We know and understand that any political charter change will be dead on arrival,” Salceda added.
Salceda also called on the country’s lawmakers to “simply do what already worked for our neighbors” in Southeast Asia, citing the success of foreign investment liberalization reforms undertaken by Vietnam.
“Vietnam began to overtake us in FDI-to-GDP by 1990, just 3 years after Doi Moi and the 1987 Constitution. Due to this underperformance, the average Vietnamese will be wealthier than the average Filipino over the next decade,” Salceda said.
“You have to remember, this country began poorer than us, had more conflict that we ever had, was nearly completely bombed, and had to rebuild almost from scratch. And yet, they have leapfrogged us. The simple difference: they opened their economy to the world. We didn’t,” Salceda said.
Salceda said that the 1987 Constitution “hardcoded paranoia” and “limited the progress of future generations with the fears of the past.”
Salceda said the Philippines is the most FDI-restrictive country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“We have the most doors closed of any ASEAN country. And we expect visitors to come. This makes no economic or logical sense,” Salceda said.
“We need investments to come. So, what makes sense is to open the doors that we can,” he added.