MANILA – Five Western Visayan members of the House of Representatives’ committee on constitutional amendments supported the bill amending the “restrictive” economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
They were Iloilo province’s Janette Garin of the 1st District and Lorenz Defensor of the 3rd District, Loren Legarda of the lone district of Antique, Sharon Garin of AAMBIS-OWA party-list, and Stephen Paduano of ABANG LINGKOD party-list.
The five lawmakers were among the 62 House panel members who voted for the adoption of resolution. Three members voted against while three others abstained.
The resolution, which was sponsored by House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, aims to give Congress the flexibility to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution to help the Philippine economy recover from the impact of the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The House panel approved Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2 that seeks to insert the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” to specific provisions of the Constitution, namely five amendments to Article XII (National Patrimony and Economy), one amendment to Article XIV (Education, Science, and Technology), and one amendment to Article XVI (General Provisions).
This means lawmakers would be able to use legislation to lift the current prohibitions on foreign investors – something the Constitution is not allowing Congress to do at the moment.
However, the committee excluded from the resolution the proposed amendment to Section 7 of Article XII referring to the ban on foreign ownership of land.
The approval of RBH No. 2 incidentally coincided with the 34th anniversary of the ratification of the 1987 Charter, which House committee chair Alfredo Garbin Jr. described as a “living Constitution” that is “far from being perfect.”
“When the people ratified the 1987 Constitution containing limitations on foreign ownership and participation on certain economic activities, it was their desire at that time to make the limitations specific. However, the Constitution is not unchangeable,” Garbin said.
For his part, Velasco sought to liberalize the restrictive economic constitutional provisions to allow Congress to enact laws that will free up the economy to foreign investors and provide much-needed economic relief to Filipinos in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foreign investment plays a crucial role in the Philippine economy by supporting domestic jobs and the creation of physical and knowledge capital across a range of industries, according to the House Speaker.
“The need to attract foreign capital is critical to support our economy’s recovery from COVID-19,” Velasco said.
A number of economists agreed that lifting foreign investment restrictions could improve foreign direct investment or foreign direct investments (FDI) inflow, particularly in areas restricted in the Constitution.
Relaxing the economic Charter provisions, they said, would open the door to establish a platform for promoting stronger investments and a more inclusive economic development.
“The resolution could lead to an additional average annual FDI of P330 billion (US$6.8 billion) and generate 6.6 million jobs over a 10-year period,” Garbin said./PN
