Economic Cha-cha a 'bait' for political amendments, says opposition

Efforts to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution will open the floodgates to political amendments, including term extension, opposition figures said Friday.

House Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas of Gabriela party-list and Kabataan party-list lawmaker Raoul Manuel made the warning a day after President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. said that he fully supports amending the 1987 Constitution “on economic matters alone.”

The Resolution of Both Houses 6, which seeks to lift the 40% restriction on foreign ownership in advertising, education, and public utilities, is still under deliberation by the Senate. The House of Representatives, for its part, has vowed to adopt the Senate version as soon as it is approved.

“Pain lang sa mamamayan itong sinasabing economic Cha-cha. It will eventually include political amendments, and opening of the doors to cronies,” Brosas said.

“The only ones who will benefit from this move are foreign investors, and that is why we are joining the February 25 national protest against Cha-cha,” Brosas added.

Manuel said changing the Constitution is no different from the Marcos family’s attempt to revise history with the non-declaration of February 25, the 38th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution as a holiday.

“The Marcos Jr. administration not only distorted history and removed the February 25 EDSA People Power anniversary as a national holiday. It now wants to distort the 1987 Constitution to desperately attract foreign investors and perpetuate the ruling camp in power,” he said.

The Kabataan lawmaker added that Marcos always touted the investment pledges he gets from his trips abroad.  He said it would be advantageous to businessmen to be in a country that does not impose limitations on their investments.

Francis Aquino Dee of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation deputy executive director, echoed the call to protest efforts to amend the 1987 Constitution in a National Day of Prayer and Action on February 23 to mark the EDSA anniversary.

“The 1986 Comelec walkout was part of the many courageous acts that led to the Edsa People Power Revolution, a national historic event that restored many of our cherished freedoms and democracy which are now enshrined in our present Constitution, the very same constitution that insidious forces want to revise to promote narrow political and economic ends,” Dee, grandson of former President Cory Aquino and nephew of former President Noynoy Aquino, said in a statement.

In 1986, a group of Comelec computer technicians walked out from their jobs at the tabulation center of the presidential election called by then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., claiming that they observed anomalies in the election results being reported to the public.

The incident was one of the triggers of the Edsa People Power Revolution, resulting in the end of Marcos administration.

“Let us show them that the spirit of Edsa lives and we will cancel Cha-cha," Dee added.

Speaker Martin Romualdez, for his part, said the President’s assurance of non-political amendments stands on solid ground.

“The President made it clear that these provisions hinder the entry of foreign investments and the potential for faster and inclusive economic growth, which in turn could translate into a better life for every Filipino,” Romualdez said in a statement.

“We are happy that he also took note of our consistent advocacy in the House of Representatives for changing those restrictive provisions for more than three decades since the 8th Congress,” he added.

Senior Deputy Speaker Dong Gonzales, meanwhile, said economic Cha-cha is for economic prosperity.

“These provisions have been delaying foreign capital’s entry to our country for so long. We need these investments so we can stir economic development,” he said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News