Economic Cha-cha will enable PH to respond to 'global realities,' group says

A group of economists said Thursday that the proposed measure that aims to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution would give way to legislations that respond to the current "global realities."

In a statement, the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) emphasized that (Resolution of Both Houses) RBH7 and its counterpart RBH6 in the Senate "will provide certainty to the country’s economic policy direction."

This, as the group pointed out that the supposed uncertainty in the country's economic policy framework ''stems from the contradiction between the restrictive provisions in our Constitution and the attempts to mitigate them through legislation.''

“Giving flexibility to Congress to change the rules will improve contestability in a market dominated by existing monopolies and duopolies," explained FEF.

"This means that actual competition or even the threat of competition from foreign players will lead local players to improve the quality of and access to, their goods and services if they know that new entrants from abroad can be facilitated by Congress,” it added.

Meanwhile, the FEF commented on some of the University of the Philippines' economists’ opposition to giving lawmakers the flexibility and discretion to determine economic policy through the addition of “unless otherwise provided by law” in the Charter’s economic provisions.

“Allowing for flexibility in our economic policy to be more responsive to changing local and global conditions does not throw out the rule book. It merely situates rule-making in the proper venue,” it said.

“We believe that removing the restrictions is a necessary condition since we have to open the door first for investors to be able to come in. For foreign businesses to benefit from better institutions and processes, they must enter the country first. How does one even experience all of the other enabling factors if one is barred from the get-go?,” the FEF added. —VAL, GMA Integrated News