Imee Marcos ‘not sold’ on separate law for Constitution’s economic provisions

Sen. Imee Marcos during a plenary session back in November 16, 2023. Senate PRIB file photo / Joseph Vidal

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Imee Marcos on Tuesday said she was not fully convinced that placing the 1987 Constitution’s economic provisions in a separate legislation would help the country.

In a press conference, Marcos emphasized the need to be wary of changing the Constitution.

“One intriguing suggestion was to remove economic provisions from the Constitution and instead place it in separate legislation for it to be easily changed whenever there’s a problem or amendment and for it to be updated,” Marcos said, speaking partly in Filipino.

She said doing so could endanger land ownership in the Philippines. She specifically noted that Filipinos should benefit from every inch of land in the country.

“I am not fully sold [on the idea], although it’s an option for certain industries we can probably carve out. Let’s see, but I am afraid, especially for land ownership because it might affect Filipinos who may not be able to buy land because of soaring prices.)

Economist and professor emeritus Dr. Gerardo Sicat pointed out on Monday, during a Senate hearing on economic Charter change, that it would be easier to amend the economic provisions if it were in separate legislation and not in the Constitution.

“We are the only country in this region with a fundamental law that covers the passage of laws on economic and business matters. All our neighbors — Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand — these four countries did not have anything about sacred or fundamental laws on economic relations. They just had simple ordinary legislations for all economic and business matters,” Sicat said.

“They didn’t have to put it and set it in stone in the form of a fundamental law. The fundamental law, to which we were all gathered to follow, has caused us enormous pain,” he added.

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Senator Robin Padilla, chairman of the chamber’s Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, agreed with Sicat.

“As Professor Sicat said, we have made mistakes in the Constitution that we are only able to realize after a few decades. Dr. Sicat is right that if this is only an ordinary law, we can easily process the recommended amendments, but because this is the Supreme Law of the Land, we cannot easily amend it,” Padilla said in Filipino.