President Benigno Aquino III has given his economic managers two weeks in which to review the implications of Charter change, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said Wednesday.

 

Purisima, who heads the economic team, said that as part of the review, the economic managers would be consulting with the private sector and multilateral agencies on the implications of changing the economic provisions of the Constitution.

 

Multilateral agencies such as the World Bank can provide information on the economic laws of other countries.

 

The private sector, including both foreign and local businessmen, has been lobbying for the easing of restrictions on foreign ownership limited by the Constitution.

 

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte have also been pushing to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution, particularly the 40 percent limit on foreign ownership of corporations in the Philippines.

 

Both leaders met with Aquino on Monday to convince him to support Charter change. Enrile and Belmonte also stressed that amendments would be limited to economic provisions and not on other provisions.

 

Enrile and Belmonte said President Aquino would also be consulting with his legal team to study the matter. 

 

Aquino has said that he was not keen on changing the 1987 Constitution, crafted during the incumbency of his mother, former President Corazon Aquino. — DVM, GMA News