Concom urged to lift economic restrictions in Charter change

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte’s consultative commission on Charter change was urged yesterday to lift the economic restrictions provided in the Constitution so the country can attract more foreign investments.

“It’s the constitutional provisions putting a 40-percent cap on foreign ownership and barring foreign participation in certain sectors, such as media, that have been a deal breaker for prospective foreign investors,” said Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, one of the lead proponents of Charter change.

He said that when the lifting of restrictions is coupled with the shift to federalism, the country’s economy could be developed further.

“Our protectionist economic policy is an anachronism under the new global free economy or borderless world. This is why foreign direct investments (FDI) have remained relatively anemic despite the Philippines’ newfound investment-grade status as Asia’s bright star,” Villafuerte said. 

“True, there was a 40 percent jump in FDI inflows to $7.9 billion to the Philippines in 2016, based on ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) data, but this was peanuts when compared to the $53.9 billion that went to Singapore that same year and Malaysia’s $11.3 billion,” he added.

Villafuerte also said that even the erstwhile tail-ender Vietnam received more foreign investments at $12.6 billion.

Aside from Villafuerte, several congressmen, including Quezon City’s Feliciano Belmonte Jr., are advocating the lifting or relaxation of the Charter’s economic provisions.

Aside from lifting economic restrictions, Rep. Winston Castelo of Quezon City asked the commission to provide Boracay and other small islands a “special protected territory status” so its ecosystems could be properly governed and managed.

He said small islands are vulnerable to over-exploitation, like what is happening to Boracay, and should be preserved and not sacrificed for the sake of profit.

In the case of Boracay, he said the island’s decay “is the result of a combination of failure of governance, business greed and bad politics.”

“But the more important factor is the lack or total absence of the voice, representation and direct participation of the people of Boracay in the making of decisions that directly affect their homeland,” he added.

Castelo proposed that small islands – Limasawa in Leyte, Verde between Mindoro and Batangas, Carabao in Romblon, Elephant and Maniwaya in Marinduque, Polilio in Quezon, Panglao in Bohol, Bantayan in Cebu as well as Siquijor, Guimaras, Batanes and Babuyan Islands – be given protected status under a federal system.

Meanwhile, the committee agreed yesterday to impose an educational requirement for senatorial candidates. The vote was 13-5.

Former senator Nene Pimentel said that the new constitution should require senatorial candidates to have at least a baccalaureate degree as determined by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) or other agencies authorized by law. 

Pimentel explained that they have voted to impose the educational requirement because under the present Constitution, the qualifications for senators are the same as those for barangay officials. 

“The education qualification now for senators is the same that is required of a barangay official, but their duties are different so it is important that they agreed with our proposal that a senator should possess a wider perspective in life through his educational attainment,” Pimentel told The STAR.

He added that the commission would also discuss during its next meeting the qualifications for president, vice president and congressmen.  – Robertzon Ramirez