President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his speech during an arrival ceremony at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City. INQUIRER.net file photo/Ryan Leagogo
Ten months after declaring that Charter change (Cha-cha) was not his priority, President Marcos said on Friday that the government had started studying the possible amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution to attract more foreign investors.
Speaking to reporters after leading the inauguration of a water treatment plant in Muntinlupa City, the President said some economic provisions of the 36-year-old Philippine Constitution were hindering foreign investors.
“We’re just beginning to study because we keep talking about economic provisions that are getting in the way with some of the potential investors that we are trying to bring to the Philippines,” Mr. Marcos said.
He was responding to a question from reporters on whether he would support moves in the House of Representatives to amend the “prohibitive” economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
“What we are looking at here is the opportunity cost of those who would like to invest here but somehow the laws that derived from the Constitution when it comes to the economic provisions do not allow them to or make it nonviable for them,” Mr. Marcos said.
“So, that’s the study to see if it requires that or if we can do it any other way,” he added.
His “primary interest,” according to him, is “to try and make our country an investment-friendly place.”
“We’ll see. That’s why the study is really not about the Constitution. It’s about what do we need to do, what do we need to change so that these potential investors will in fact come to the Philippines,” Mr. Marcos said.
Review under way
But the Presidential Communications Office later said in a press statement that “efforts are under way to revisit the economic provisions of 1987 Constitution and other laws to make PH more investment-friendly.”
On Dec. 12, Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s first cousin, said the House would once more push to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
“I believe 2024 will allow us, again, to revisit the Constitution. I think it’s timely, we’d like to focus on the economic provisions,” Romualdez said.
“What could be our legacy in the 19th Congress is to review and revisit the 1987 Constitution to make it more attuned, sensitive and responsive to the times,” he added.
Romualdez said lawmakers would be studying Cha-cha and the procedure to amend the Constitution during the Congress’ break from Dec. 16 to Jan. 21, 2024.
Under the 1987 Constitution, any amendment may be proposed by Congress through a constituent assembly (Con-ass) upon a vote of three-fourths of all its members; a constitutional convention (Con-con); or a people’s initiative involving 12 percent of the total number of registered voters.
Not priority then
In February this year, the President told reporters after his trip to Japan that Cha-cha “is not a priority for me because there are many things that need to be done” and “there are so many other things that we need to do first.”
The following month, 301 House members voted in favor of House Bill No. 7352 calling for a “hybrid” Con-con composed of both elected delegates and those appointed by the President. Seven representatives opposed the bill.
The House Committee on Constitutional Amendments also approved Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri questioned the House’s rush to approve the measure, saying that key economic laws were already passed by the 18th Congress.
The Senate leader said that the time spent fighting over Cha-cha could be better spent passing laws that would benefit the country. He also stated that the Senate would be unable to muster the 18 votes required for the bill to pass.
Sen. Robinhood Padilla, the Senate’s main proponent of Cha-cha, also said pursuing a Con-con would be too expensive.
According to estimates made by the National Economic Development Authority, a Con-con would cost around P28 billion, or at least P10 billion more expensive than a Con-ass.
A newer version of the House-sponsored resolution suggested that the cost for a Con-con may be reduced to P14 billion and that Con-ass will only need around P30 million.
Public sentiment
Sen. Cynthia Villar on Friday said that public sentiment had always been against Ch-cha.“Filipinos don’t want Charter change. In general, it’s unpopular,” Villar told reporters after attending an event in Las Piñas City.
“If people don’t like it, I don’t like it,” she said. “The Senate is (lukewarm) to Charter change because it has been noted in all the research that the public would not approve that.”
The matriarch of one of the country’s most influential political clans said even her family members recognized that such undertaking should be supported by the people.
Villar’s son, Mark, is also currently serving as senator. Her daughter, Camille, is the representative of the lone district of Las Piñas.
“I have been a senator for so many years. As a policy, you don’t do something that people do not want,” she said.
May turn political
Villar also repeated concerns by some colleagues that any move to modify the Constitution would also involve changing some of its political provisions.
“They say they will change only the economic provisions. But if you open up the Constitution for amendments, you will open up all its parts, not just the economic provisions,” she said.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III earlier said he would support changing the country’s presidential form of government into a federal system.Pimentel, however, vowed to block any proposal to allow foreigners to own lands and to exploit the country’s natural resources.
“Regarding the adoption of federalism, I’m open to the idea. But if the plan is to sell our lands and mineral resources to foreigners, it should be opposed,” he said. —WITH REPORTS FROM MARLON RAMOS AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
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