WHILE House members respect the statements of former Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on the topic of amending the specific restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution, there’s no denying the need to listen to the feedback of the actual foreign investors who are eying the Philippines for business.
Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman, chairperson of the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality, said in a press conference Wednesday, “In this case we should listen more to the potential investors. They would know the challenges that they face before investing in our country.”
“Syempre we respect former justice Carpio. He’s a man of great experience. But between theory and practical, practically you know and real talk ika nga sinasabi natin, pakinggan natin ‘yung mga investors and I think it doesn’t take much to be observant ‘no and compare our situation and that of other countries,” she said.
Roman was referring to recent statements made by Carpio, wherein he lamented that “There appears to be a lack of understanding by our national leaders of the extent of foreign ownership, under the law, of businesses in our country.”
According to the former magistrate, Philippines Congress already has many laws that facilitate foreign ownership, which is a rallying point for constitutional reform advocates. This supposedly weakens the argument for Cha-cha.
“Sabi nga nila we have a Constitution that is so specific and unfortunately its too specific when it comes to the economic provision. When in general you go around the world, ang Constitution is just a decoration of principles filled with motherhood statements your ultimate objectives and it gives leeway and space for Congress to legislate the laws,” she added.
Another lawmaker in the press conference, House Assistant Majority Leader and Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Jil Bongalon, agreed with Roman’s points regarding Carpio’s comments.
“With regard to that issue, what we have is a retired Justice who is saying that we have already enough laws that would answer to these problems, but pakinggan ho natin ‘yung foreign investors, sinasabi nila we have restrictive economic provisions under [the] 1987 Constitution,” he said.
“Ibig sabihin, hindi ho sapat ‘yung mga batas na ipinapasa ho ng Kongreso para ma-encourage po ang ating foreign investors na mag-negosyo sa ating bansa. ‘Yun lamang po ang dapat na malinaw sa atin pong mga sambayanang pilipino na, we have to amend the restrictive economic provisions, it is now the best time to amend our fundamental of the land,” underscored Bongalon.
Roman, Bongalon, and the other lawmakers advocating for Cha-cha believe that lifting the economic restrictions in the Constitution would lead to a foreign investments boom in the country.
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