Lawmakers warned on charter change

MANILA, Philippines — A political science professor on Wednesday cautioned against plans to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, saying that allowing foreigners to own lands in the country will “alienate a majority of Filipinos.”

“Why are we giving up our land?” Wilfrido Villacorta of the De La Salle University told the House committee on constitutional amendments, which began hearing measures that seek to amend the Charter’s economic provisions and lift restrictions on foreign ownership of the country’s public domain.

“We are an archipelagic country and most of our territories (are) made up of water. (We) have very limited land, and here we are giving away the land given us by God, and letting cash-rich foreigners to buy us out,” Villacorta said.

Cristina Exmundo, a specialist from the National Security Council, also cautioned lawmakers against relaxing restrictions on foreign investments.

“We have to be cautious [if] we’re looking at the national security interests of the country, especially if we’re looking… five or 10 years down the road if we just open up our natural resources,” Exmundo said.

While most of the resource persons expressed openness to amending the Charter, others were wary about proposals to lift prohibitions on foreign ownership of land.

“Liberalization of land ownership will certainly be inflationary. Our farmers will be more impoverished, our food and rice supply will be more at risk, and the number of informal settlers will increase,” Villacorta said.

House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr., for his part, decried what he termed as “neocolonialism” of Filipinos.

“Perhaps there’s nothing wrong with the Constitution; there’s something wrong with the people.  Why do we always want foreigners to invest even if there are provisions restricting them?” he said.

Philippine Competition Commissioner Johannes Bernabe and American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Senior Advisor John Forbes however supported amendments to the protectionist provisions of the Charter. Forbes said government should not fear foreign investments as long as strong regulations are in place.

Gary Olivar of the Foundation for Economic Freedom said protectionist provisions that limit foreign ownership “do not promote healthy competition in a dynamic global economy.”