Palace: Economic team to make public study on Cha-cha

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang assured the public yesterday that the legal and economic team of the Cabinet tasked to study the proposal to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution would make public its findings.

“The President, as we know, has asked his economic managers to do a study on the proposal. And perhaps we can just expect that the (findings)…would be shared with the public when the economic managers finish their study,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said over radio dzRB.

Asked about the Makati Business Club’s (MBC) proposal to amend the economic provisions after the 2013 elections, Valte said the matter would be up to Congress.

The MBC said the Senate and the House of Representatives should first address matters of greater urgency, including the 2013 budget bill, excise tax on alcohol and tobacco products or so-called sin products, amendments to the Mining Act, Responsible Parenthood bill and the Freedom of Information bill.

Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario, a successful businessman before joining government, agreed that restriction on foreign ownership under the Constitution must be lifted to encourage more investors to come to the Philippines.

Del Rosario said there might be a need to re-evaluate the existing economic parameters as the “Philippines further redefines international economic policy and offers more access to foreign investments.”

“There may be a need for changes in statutory ownership standards,” he said.

He said the country has less access to markets given preferential treatment status from the nations or regions suffering from the global financial crisis.

The Philippines has been ranked in the lower half of nations considered not attractive, or difficult to do business with in global surveys on doing business.

Economists said lifting all restrictions on foreign ownership of domestic property or business would not only improve the ranking of the country but also open the floodgates to capital inflows.

Congressional leaders said removing the 60:40 rule on foreign ownership would bring in more investments and create more employment.

But President Aquino said there was no correlation between the restriction and foreign investments, though he had asked the National Economic and Development Authority and the rest of the economic managers to study the proposal.

The Philippines is said to be in a “sweet spot” for foreign investments, with its economy recording sustained growth over several decades, overcoming the hostilities of the Asian 1997 and the 2008 global financial crisis.

Enough safeguards

Meanwhile, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II gave assurance that there would be enough safeguards in the legislative process to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution.

In separate statements, Belmonte and Gonzales said they were also happy over the commitment of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima that the economic managers would come up with its recommendations in two weeks.

Belmonte said Aquino’s support for constitutional reforms is crucial, adding that both the Senate and the House can come up with its proposed amendments before the end of the year. – With Paolo Romero