Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual yesterday said amending some of the economic provisions of the Constitution would help attract investments into the country.
In a television interview, Pascual said while the country has opened up a number of sectors through legislation, these laws can be changed.
Pascual said changes in the Constitution “sends a more permanent signal to stakeholders, investors.”
“That (Constitution) is the foundation of the government. So it’s more credible… (it) provides greater comfort in terms of permanence and the reliability of the commitment of the government,” he said.
“We have done a lot of liberalization already. We have amended the Public Service Act, the retail trade liberalization and then we have the CREATE (Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act) that provides incentives to investments. The thing is, these are laws that can be changed anytime,” Pascual said.
Without going into specifics, Pascual said changes could be in the form of clear provisions on ownership restrictions by foreigners.
“There are questions for example on ownership of land. That can be very touchy but maybe the Constitution can provide a way, like a clearer provision for leasehold, for the use of land in the Philippines,” Pascual said.
Some legislators are pushing for the amendment of the economic provisions of the Constitution to attract more foreign direct investments.
Sen. Robin Padilla, chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, said the proposed amendments to the 1987 Constitution will be limited to restrictive economic provisions and will not touch political provisions.
Padilla has filed a joint resolution for a constituent assembly to liberalize economic provisions in the Constitution to allow full foreign ownership in enterprises but this was shot down by his colleagues in the Senate who said those provisions in the Charter have been addressed through the passage of measures in the last Congress.
Padilla said despite the passage and approval of the Public Service Act, Retail Trade Liberation Act, and Foreign Investments Act, “foreign investors still think twice about investing in the Philippines due to the Constitution’s current provisions.
