Marcos says 1987 Charter working just fine
CHARTER change is “not a priority” for President Marcos Jr. despite the renewed push by allied lawmakers to relax the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
“It’s not a priority for me because… There are so many other things that we need to do first,” the President said in a media interview Sunday night onboard PR 001 while en route to Manila from Tokyo.
“Makukuha naman natin iyong gusto (natin) but within the present (Constitution)… the way the Constitution is written (We can get what we want but within the present [Constitution]… the way the Constitution is presently written),” Marcos also said.
The President said foreign investors can still come in and do business in the country without tweaking the economic provisions of the Constitution.
While not elaborating, Marcos also said that there “a lot of things that need to be done first” which should be prioritized over Charter change efforts.
He acknowledged that several lawmakers have been pushing for Charter amendments due to what they felt are restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution, such as limitations on foreign ownership.
“But for me, lahat itong mga pinag-usapan, kaya nating gawin na hindi papalitan ang Saligang Batas (But for me, all these things that they are talking about can be done without changing the Constitution),” the President stressed.
The President had earlier described the 1987 Constitution as “dynamic,” “flexible,” and able to adapt to the challenges and changing times.
He has said that the Charter, while it has undergone several amendments in the past, has been able to stay abreast with the conditions needed for the country to survive challenges in both the local and international scenes.
“It is indeed noteworthy that our Supreme Law remains a dynamic and flexible expression of our collective will, capable of adapting to the changing times and circumstances of our nation. For this reason, we let the challenges that come our way demand our continued commitment to the principles of our Constitution, as well as our drive to recalibrate the Philippine society for generations to come,” he said on Constitution Day.
Among those pushing for revisions to the Constitution are House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who is a cousin of the President, and Sen. Robin Padilla, who is the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments.
The President’s lackadaisical attitude towards Charter change is also apparent in its non-inclusion in the priority bills that were endorsed during the Executive Committee Meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) on Monday.
The priority bills adopted for passage by June this year includes, among others, the bill seeking the establishment of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law/Public-Private Partnership (PPP) bill; the bills establishing the Medical Reserve Corps, the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control, and the Virology Institute of the Philippines; the revival of the Mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) and National Service Training Program (NSTP); the bill proposing the condonation of unpaid amortization and interests of loans of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs), the proposed Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce law, the Attrition law, amendments to the AFP fixed term law, and the Salt Industry Development bill.
‘NOT MATERIALIZE’
Despite the President’s statement, Padilla yesterday insisted that foreign investment pledges from the foreign trips of Marcos “will not materialize” if restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution are not relaxed.
“The Foreign Direct Investments that we badly needed cannot come true without the proper provisions from our Constitution. And most of the pledges by foreign investors from our leaders’ foreign trips will not materialize,” Padilla said as he insisted on pushing through with Chacha hearings in the Senate even without the support of Malacañang and other colleagues in the upper chamber.
“As the President’s senatorial candidate in UniTeam, I support all his priority legislation. That said, I will pursue my own advocacies, with or without the President’s support because that is my obligation to the people — and I will stay the course in the Senate as part of our democracy,” Padilla said.
“Whether or not my fellow senators support my advocacy, it is important that the people know why our growth as a nation has been held back — and what must be done to address this,” he added.
Padilla has earlier assured his colleagues that constitutional amendments will only be limited to the economic provisions, as he allayed fears that its political provisions, much less, term extensions, will not be tackled.
Padilla has filed Resolution of Both Houses No. 3 which seeks to amend certain economic provisions in the charter, a proposal which has been shot down by fellow senators who said that the restrictive economic provisions have been addressed through the passage of three economic measures in the last Congress.
Senate majority leader Joel Villanueva said he does not see any reason why lawmakers should train their sights on Charter change since it was not mentioned by the President during the LEDAC meeting.
Villanueva said the people should first wait to feel the effects of the Public Services Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Law, and the Foreign Direct Investments Act before thinking of introducing amendments to the Constitution.
‘INDEPENDENT’ HOUSE
The chair of the House committee on constitutional amendments said the panel will continue holding public consultations on Charter change even if it is not one of the President’s priorities because Congress is an “independent” branch of the government.
“We respect the opinion of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on constitutional amendment measures. We will of course consider it. But as an independent branch of government, the House of Representatives and Congress will proceed with its public dialogues on this issue,” Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said.
“We laud and commend President Marcos Jr. for trying to entice foreign businessmen in his trips abroad to invest their money in the country. He is our best salesman. But certain restrictive provisions of the Charter could be impeding investments,” Rodriguez also said.
“In our hearings at the House of Representatives last week and in Cagayan de Oro City last Friday, the overwhelming recommendation was to rewrite the Constitution’s economic provisions to allow for more foreign investments,” he added.
The veteran lawyer-lawmaker said there is a brewing consensus in the House to convene a constitutional convention to propose the amendments with the end in view of relaxing the Charter’s economic restrictions on the entry of foreign capital into the country.
He added that his committee will continue to hold more consultations in other parts of Luzon.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, a member of the Makabayan bloc, said the President’s statement that Charter Change is not his priority “should be taken with a grain of salt.”
Brosas said the President’s statement “is inconsistent with the haste by which the House Majority is pushing the Cha-cha train” as regional consultations are rescheduled to earlier dates, “apparently in a bid to finish consultations before the House goes into a break this March.”
“His statement is merely a way to wash his hands from the anti-poor and anti-people constitutional amendments that are being fast-tracked in the Lower House,” she said.
“Marcos Jr. cannot simply isolate himself from this major issue to clear his name when the public is fully aware that he, his family, and his cronies will ultimately benefit from term extension and opening our economy to foreign investors,” she also said.
Brosas maintained that Charter Change is not the answer to the economic crisis that the country is facing, saying the government is just wasting its time and very limited resources in conducting hearings and public consultations.
“If President Marcos Jr. is really serious in his statement that Cha-Cha is not his priority, then he must prioritize instead the passage of policies that will increase wages and lower the prices of goods and services,” she said. — With Raymond Africa and Wendell Vigilia
