House starts plenary deliberations on economic Cha-cha

The House of Representatives on Monday started the plenary deliberations on the proposal to amend the "restrictive" economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution.

In his sponsorship speech, House Committee on Constitutional Amendments chairperson Alfredo Garbin Jr. stressed that "no Constitution, however gifted its framers, is likely to prove adequate for an indefinite period."

"There are problems that no human foresight can anticipate. As conditions are never static, so must the fundamental law be freed from the constraint of rigidity. While it is reduced to writing, it should not be devoid of the element of flexibility," Garbin said.

"Thus, a well-written charter must not only safeguard individual rights and organize the government but indicate how it may be amended to make it responsive to changing economic, social, and political conditions," he added.

Garbin's panel had approved Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2, which aims to amend existing economic provisions in the Constitution in a bid to open up the Philippines to foreign direct investments which may help the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

RBH No. 2 inserts the phrase "unless otherwise provided by law" to the constitutional provisions on national economy and patrimony; education, science and technology, arts, culture, and sports; and on general provisions to give Congress flexibility to enact laws that would free up the economy to foreign investors.

The panel, however, excluded from this proposed amendment Article 12, Section 7 pertaining to foreign ownership of land in the Philippines, which stated that "no private lands shall be transferred or conveyed except to individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold lands of the public domain."

House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco has said opening up the country to foreign investors was crucial to help the Philippine economy recover from the adverse effects of the health crisis.

According to Garbin, nationalist groups do not see the benefit in opening the Philippine economy to foreign investors as they believe that the local enterprises are not yet prepared to compete with foreign firms that are equipped with huge investments and advanced technologies.

For the lawmaker, the Philippines should not be afraid to compete in today's globalized environment.

"In any case, the removal of these restrictive provisions through constitutional amendments cannot prevent the Congress when faced in the future by changing circumstances and new challenges, from introducing restrictions for national security and other 'national interest' reasons once we have attained our foreign investment targets and have sufficient capital from our domestic savings," he said.

Garbin believed that it is only wise for Congress to amend the present Constitution by adding the phrase "unless otherwise provided by law," to give the government enough flexibility to consider different circumstances prevailing at different stages of the road to economic development.

"It is about time that we correct the unintended anomaly by introducing this amendment that gives Philippine legislature the freedom to amend those time-bound laws that have been enshrined in the Philippine Constitution to the detriment of the common good of Filipinos now and in the future," Garbin said.

Not a free pass

Marikina City Representative Stella Quimbo, who also sponsored the bill, underscored the need to open the economy to foreign investors because of the lack of domestic capital.

"When a country's domestic capital is lacking, we simply need to look for more foreign business partners. Unfortunately, our laws are too restrictive to allow the inflow of foreign capital," Quimbo said in her speech.

Quimbo, an economist, said the need for foreign direct investments became more urgent due to the pandemic.

She, however, ensured that allowing foreign investors would not "crowd out local businesses."

"It is not a free pass. By including the phrase 'unless otherwise provided by law,' the measure provides flexibility to these economic provisions, but still allows the legislature to address the fear of some of our countrymen that we will be inundated with foreign businesses, to the detriment of local industry," Quimbo said. -NB, GMA News