Bill amending Foreign Investment Act gets Senate’s final nod

The Senate on Tuesday approved on third and final reading the bill which introduces amendments to the Foreign Investment Act (FIA) .

Voting 21-0-0, the chamber unanimously approved one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s priority economic bills.

Senate Bill 1156 seeks to improve investment factors to attract, promote, and welcome foreign investment activities which contribute to the country's national industrialization and socioeconomic development.

Before it was approved on second reading and eventually on third reading, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon proposed amendments in Section 16 of the bill which pertained to the review of foreign investments affecting national security.

Senator Richard Gordon also pushed for the insertion of a new paragraph on Section 5 of the bill related to the composition of the Inter-Agency Investment Promotion Coordination Committee.

He proposed to include one representative each from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao who shall be chosen from a list of nominees prepared and submitted by a nationally-recognized leading industry or business chambers.

All of the amendments were accepted by the bill’s sponsor, Senator Imee Marcos, chair of the Senate economic affairs committee.

Last April, Duterte certified the bills amending the FIA, the Public Service Act, and Retail Trade Liberalization Act as urgent.

The Senate has already passed the FIA and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act on third and final reading while the bill amending the Public Service Act is still pending on second reading.

The House passed all three reforms in 2019 and 2020.

Early this September, several local business groups and foreign chambers have called on lawmakers to pass three investment reform bills aimed at opening up the economy to further foreign investments.—LDF, GMA News