Garin says economic Cha-cha may urge OFWs to come home

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker and a resource person agreed that amending the 1987 Constitution’s restrictive economic provisions would help overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and eventually prod them to return home.

During the House committee of the whole hearing on Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7, Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin asked Constitutional Reform & Rectification for Economic Competitiveness & Transformation (CoRRECT) Movement co-founder Orion Perez Dumdum whether or not amending the Constitution would be good for OFWs.

Dumdum responded in the affirmative, saying that economic reforms would allow more investments to enter the country and eventually create more jobs.

“Yes, your honor. This will be answered partially. As a first enabling step, this will be addressed by economic constitutional reform,” Dumdum said.

“Economic liberalization will mean more foreign investments, and OFWs will come home,” he added.

READ: Romualdez on RBH 7: Mission is to amend economic provision

Garin shared the same observations, noting that the reason behind Filipinos leaving the country was to find higher paying and higher quality jobs overseas, despite being separated from their families.

“It may be painful to say, but many Filipinos who are now in Vietnam used to be managers and some of them are even company owners, but since they cannot afford a high capital, they are lured and pirated by foreign companies and they are forced to leave the country to serve in nations unfamiliar to them,” Garin said.

“Then, families left behind here are forced to cope with the sad reality since there are less opportunities in the Philippines,” she added.

Dumdum said that opening the economy will prevent OFWs from leaving the country because businesses are the ones going into the Philippines.

“The effect of reducing foreign equity restrictions is the strongest, denoting its relatively greater importance as a statutory barrier for investors,” he said.

“These restrictions have to go…Electricity nasa restriction din ‘yan, transmission side…We should have more advanced technology, more efficient distribution. [The restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution] is the root cause bakit expensive ang electricity. Delete all anti-foreign restrictions caused by these,” he stressed.

(These restrictions have to go… Electricity is also on the restriction, transmission side… We should have more advanced technology and more efficient distribution.  The restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution are the root cause of why electricity is expensive.)

READ: Too late for economic Cha-cha, analysts say 

Garin, the former Health secretary during the time of former president Benigno Aquino III, suggested that many medical professionals who initially chose to work outside the country may return.

“If we open up opportunities, even for research and other fields, wouldn’t our talented scientists, engineers, and professionals return to work in the Philippines?” Garin said.

“Doesn’t RBH 7 imply that the Philippines will be opened up so that companies can afford higher salaries, leading to a better life for every Filipino family?” she asked.

The House is currently conducting hearings on RBH No. 7, which proposes amendments to three provisions in the 1987 Constitution.  The Senate is also holding hearings on RBH No. 6 — which the House’s RBH No. 7 was patterned after.

Under RBH No. 7 and the Senate’s RBH No. 6 only economic provisions would be amended:

• Section 11 of Article XII (National Patrimony and Economy), where the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” is inserted in the provision that bars foreign ownership of a public utility shall except in a case where 60 percent of the total capital belongs to Filipino citizens.
• Section 4 of Article XIV (Education, Science and Technology, Arts, Culture, and Sports) where the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” is inserted in the provision that bars foreign ownership of basic educational institutions except in a case where 60 percent of the total capital belongs to Filipino citizens.
• Section 11 of Article XVI (General Provisions) where the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” is inserted in two portions: first, the provision that bars foreign ownership in the advertising industry except in a case where 70 percent of the total capital belongs to Filipino citizens; and in the provision that limits foreign investors participation in entities to how much their capital share is.

With reports from Barbara Gutierrez, INQUIRER.net intern