Aquino gov’t rejects Charter change in spurring economy

MANILA, Philippines—The Aquino administration is confident it can grow the economy with the measures it is following, without needing to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

The Palace effectively rejected the call of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution.

“We believe that the economic provisions in the Constitution can still pave the way for further economic development,” said presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.

According to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., President Aquino is “not considering any amendment [to] the Constitution” as it has always been his belief even when he was still a senator that “we can live with the Constitution.”

And while Mr. Aquino is “open” to proposals seeking the increase of foreign ownership of businesses, “his worry is that once you open up any amendment or any proposal towards the amendment of the Constitution, it would be like Pandora’s box, it would be very difficult to control and ensure that this provision would be the only one to be amended,” according to Ochoa.

Lacierda said the administration has always been committed to “providing a level playing field” for businessmen and investors by “making our rules more investment-friendly and taking away graft-ridden process of bidding in government transactions.”

The government has also plugged the leakages in tax and revenue collections, he said.

“I think economically, we can do that and this is also our response to credit rating agencies who are saying that we’re not going to get investment grade status until we raise our taxes. We believe that we can improve our revenue collection and that will be a way for us to also get investment-grade status,” he said.