MANILA, Philippines—The Makati Business Club (MBC) is standing firmly against moves to amend the 1987 Constitution and is warning administration lawmakers not to “underestimate the people.”

According to MBC executive director Alberto Lim, the business community represented by his group has drawn “a line in the sand” on the issue of Charter change (Cha-cha).

“They (administration lawmakers) think that the people are already apathetic to politics,” Lim told the Philippine Daily Inquirer Thursday. “But this could unite the people against them.”

The MBC, which counts as members the largest corporations in the Philippines, has been largely critical of the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It called on her to step down in 2005, at the height of the “Hello Garci” election fraud scandal.

On the other hand, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PCCI), the largest business group in the country in terms of membership, expressed a more muted reaction to the issue.

Don’t lose focus

At the Serye forum in Quezon City, business analyst Astro del Castillo warned that the push for Charter change might generate political turmoil that could prevent government leaders from focusing on an economy threatened by a global financial crisis.

PCCI chair emeritus Donald Dee said the controversy over Charter change via a constituent assembly was “purely a political exercise” that would end up in the Supreme Court “because the Senate will never agree to it, anyway.”

“No one will support any term extensions,” Dee said in an interview, adding that he was relying on Malacañang’s declaration that Ms Arroyo was not interested in staying in office beyond 2010.

National renewal

Lim said pushing for Charter change at this point was untimely, especially since the people consider the 2010 elections as a chance for them to elect new leaders.

“We are for national renewal in 2010,” he said, adding that the people’s perceived complacency was being fueled by the hope of having elections in the near future.

“People are looking forward to that,” he said.

Lim pointed out that businessmen were not against Charter change in itself but viewed the moves of the administration’s allies as ill-timed.

“It is self-serving for the people who want to change the Charter,” he said.

Lim dismissed the contention of certain administration lawmakers that making the Charter friendlier to foreign investors would help the country stave off the effects of the global economic crisis.

“We don’t believe [the Constitution] should be changed to fix the economy,” he said.

Lim debunked the argument that foreign investors should be allowed to own land in the country, saying that except perhaps for those in the retirement business, such investors were not interested in owning land.

Owning land

“It does not rank high on their list of concerns. What they look for is good governance, infrastructure, less red tape, among others. Owning land is not a priority,” Lim said.

He said Charter change should be done after the 2010 polls and through a constitutional convention whose members would be elected solely for the purpose.

Lim also said that while proponents of Charter change had many obstacles to surmount, the MBC was not letting its guard down.

“We’ve seen it before, during the Marcos era when people in the barangays would raise their hands [in a plebiscite] for the wrong reasons,” he said. “Accidents can happen.”

Emotional issue

Del Castillo, a director of the Association of Stock Market Analysts of the Philippines, said that while there might be merit in amending certain provisions of the Constitution, it would be better to put off such efforts until after 2010.

He said the issue of Charter change was “sensitive” and “emotional,” and could lead to political dissent and mass actions.

Del Castillo said that since the impact of the financial crisis was expected to be fully felt in 2009, the government should not be distracted from protecting the economy so that the people would not have a harder time coping.

“We can’t afford another crisis... We don’t want our public officials to lose focus,” Del Castillo said.

“If we will still have to talk about [Charter change] on top of the financial crisis, the economic agenda will take a back seat,” he said. With a report from Leila B. Salaverria