Monday, October 28' 2Ol9
r Monday,Oftober 2& 2019v0t.15 Nors
Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus
Rodriguez, the panel chairman,
said there is already "a large con-
sensus", in favor of amending the
Br fov/e Manrr N. o ELA Crluzt @joveemarie
ITING the need to liberalize the
restrictive economic policies of the
Philippines, the chairman of the House
Committee on Constitutional Amendments
0frhe 1987 Constitution, the..
The age
said the House of,Representatives will start in economic provisions of which are .
December the plenary debates on the measure deemedtoorestrictivebyboth :
amending the economic provisions of the 1987 loral and foreign businessmen.
Constitution. Before transmitting the amend-
ments to the Constitution or the
economic Charter change to the
Constitution bylifting the restric- will approve lat least] these eco- plenary, Rodriguez said his com-
tive economic provisions of the nomic amendments andit [the mea- mittee will first hold regional con-
32-year-old Charter. surel willbe brought to theplenary sultations on the measure.
"In December, the committee for debates," he added. SBE "cEA-cEA," A2
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Constraints to growth
EARLitR, rhe Joint Foreign Chambers 0f
the Philippines (lF(); which backed the
economic (ha-cha, said restrirti0ns 0n
f0reign invegtment make th€ e(0n0my
le5s c0mp€titive by imp0ring c0nstraints
t0 gr0wlh lhdtresull ir lower inve(tTent\,'
fewer jobs, poorer infrastruiture and less
inclusive development.
Ihe gr0!p sa id the Philippines is 0ne
0f the m0st re5tri(tive c0untries'in 11
sect0ts mea5urecl by the W0rld Bank in
its "lnvesting A(r0ss B0rders 2012"rep0rt
that survey€d 105 economies.
Jf( reconmenoed t\e removdl of the
restricti0ns at the earliest date, sayinq this
can best be accomplished by deleting the
restricti0nswith0uaddingthephrase"unless
otherwii€ provid€d by law"-a sh0rtcut
earlier s ggested by s0me lawmakers,
induding Rodriguez,
The gr0upals0 p0ledthal lhere havp been
majoteLolom rhanges,tn(e the 197 I dnd
c lN the 18th tonqtess, thete are several
l987 con5titution5 were dtdft€d.,
R0driquez id these r0nitituti0nal
5a
amendmenl\ will rurthpr ir.provp the rank
0fthe Philippines in theWorld Baflk Ease of
Doing B0sine\t {EoDB) rep0rt ds pr0ven by
thc2!-n6161 ls6pf,6p I24th r095thin the
annualrepo[.
F0r his part, H0use C0mmitee 0nWays
and Means Chairman J0ey Sarte Sal(eda
5did rhe ,iltirg 0[ restri(tive pco.0mic
pr0visi0ns 0fth e C0nstituti0n willgreatly
b0 0si the €c0n0my, as the r0nstituti0nal
o teA.rlld
("L)
restri(ti0ns rppreseflt the gest solrce
b ig
of rigidity.
D'eputySpeakerMj(hael R0mer0sald the
Philippines'sabilityt0 leapfr0q int0the cir(1e
ofn ati0ns witlr the bist ease 0fd0lng bu sin ess
systemsin pla(e,aswell asthepositivepeace
and order situation wili b0ost investors,
confidence*making eronomic proqress
'sweet and very long" [0r the c0(nlry.
Pending measures
pending mea5ures seekingt0 amend cettain
pro\/isi0ns 0f the 1987 (0nstituti0n.
These measures seek to amendment
' ArtidesVl {tegislative Deparrm€nt), X (L0cal
Government), XII (Nati0nal Patrim0nV),
XIV (Education, Science and Technoloqy,
Arts, Culture and sports) and XVI (General
Piovisi0ns)bfthe 1987 C0nstituti0n 0f the
Republic of the Philippines.
0ne of these measures*House
C0ncurlent Resolution 1-is auth0red
by R0driguel. A(ording t0 R0driguez, he
Ned's't
considered the ve6i0n 0f the (0nrultative
(ommitee ir lilingthemeas re.
The C0nsultativ€ C0mmittee, (hahed by
former Chief Justice Reynato 5, Pun0, and ih
seni0rmember,the latef0rmer5enate Presldent
Aquilin0Q. Pimentellf.,ledthe reviewthe 1987
(onstitution. lttra n sm itted t0 th€ 0fn(e 0fthe
President its prop0sed (hanges t0 the Chartcr
in y 2018 lls m.tin provisiOn is t0 oeate
lB lnn0r.lrprl rp0t01s w,th )1nredut0n0myl0
,ortroland utilire their rpvpnues.
-l-p R0.lr:!u./
r,soluti0- (e€k\ t0 amencl
Jhe 0/0vi i0ns 0'll,p (0.'sLi uri0", pdrti(Ularly
5n(ti0n 2, \p(ti0n l, \e(ton 4. Secti0n /,
(p( 01 11. 0f Arti.le
Sccli0.r 10.
Xll 0r
Nati0nal Patrim0ny and E(0n0my by inserting
the
the phrase'1tnle5s 0therwiseprovided bylaw.",
lhp\n dmpndmnnts Spp(.0 telar trp restti(liVe
[orni0nownc15\ip'oa ,a,lm0ref0rpigrdire(t,
investment.
Besides a m etd ing the economic
pr0visi0ns 0f the (harter, Rodriguez!
res0luti0n als0 seeks a presidential
bicamerai-lederal system 0f government.