A RETURNING party-list lawmaker yesterday filed a resolution seeking to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution to lift restrictions on foreign ownership, and to change the territorial provisions to explicitly declare the West Philippine Sea part of the country’s territory.
Rep. Alfredo Garbin (PL, Ako Bicol) filed proposed Resolution of Both Houses No. 1, which does not introduce any political amendment to the 38-year-old Charter.
“This is a constitutional refinement, not a rewrite,” said Garbin. “We are aligning our national territory with our hard-won arbitral victory, and opening the door for economic growth, while keeping sovereignty and national interest intact.”
He said the time to amend the Constitution is now. “Timing, this, I will say: It is always the time to do the right thing. There is no other time to do the right thing. The time is always right if you’re doing the right thing,” he said.
The former chair of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, is proposing amendments to Articles I (National Territory), XII (National Economy and Patrimony), XIV (Education, Science, Technology, Arts, Culture, and Sports) and XVI (General Provisions) of the Constitution to clarify the definition of national territory and ease “restrictive” economic provisions, without touching on political term limits or governance structures.
Garbin said the provisions of the Constitution, particularly Article I, should conform to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to explicitly declare that the WPS, which is being claimed by China, is part of Philippine territory.
The resolution seeks to add to Article I the phrase, “The Philippines exercises sovereign rights over its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extending 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured and its continental shelf as defined under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, in accordance with international law.”
“The National Territory definition is silent on the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf na ipinanalo na natin sa arbitral tribunal (which we won in the arbitral tribunal). At ito ay dapat, kumbaga isaad natin (And this, so to speak, should be ours). We should enshrine it in our Constitution,” Garbin said.
The resolution states: “It is imperative and long overdue that these hard-won sovereign rights, embodying the Filipino people’s unyielding resolve to defend their patrimony, be enshrined in the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, to unequivocally reflect the nation’s unwavering commitment to its territorial integrity, maritime heritage, and national dignity in the West Philippine Sea, in full consonance with the principles of international law and the enduring aspirations of the Filipino nation.”
ECONOMIC CHA-CHA
On the economic provisions, the resolution proposes to add the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” to empower Congress to open industries to 100 percent foreign ownership through ordinary legislation since the Constitution requires corporations to be 60 percent owned by Filipinos.
This would give Congress the flexibility to legislate economic measures without needing constitutional amendments.
The resolution seeks to amend Article XII Section 10 to read: “Congress shall, upon recommendation of the economic and planning agency and when the national interest dictates, reserve certain areas of investment to citizens of the Philippines or, unless otherwise provided by law, to corporations or associations at least 60 percent of whose capital is owned by such citizens, or such higher percentage as Congress may prescribe, certain areas of investments.”
Garbin proposes that the phrase “unless provided for by law” be also inserted in Articles XII, XIV, and XVI to allow foreign ownership of public utilities, educational institutions, mass media and advertising industry.
He said the restrictive economic provisions “only resulted in monopoly or oligopoly and do not favor competition.”
“The burgeoning global interest in Asia continues to position the Philippines as a prime destination for foreign investments, bolstered by its robust economic growth,” he said. “This underscores the urgent need to maximize economic opportunities through constitutional reforms to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth for all Filipinos.”
During the 19th Congress, the House leadership under Speaker Martin Romualdez tried but failed to amend the economic provisions of the Charter.
The House of Representatives in March last year approved Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7, authored principally by Romualdez and transmitted it promptly to the Senate, which sat on the measure.
Senators and congressmen later engaged in a word war after private proponents launched a people’s initiative campaign to introduce amendments to the Constitution.
The campaign, which was openly backed by congressmen, sought to diminish the role of the Senate in revising the Constitution, a move which angered senators who blocked the move and even held hearings to investigate allegations that PI proponents paid those who signed the forms that were submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for action.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. subsequently rejected the PI bid and announced that the Senate will take the lead in changing the Charter, prompting then Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to file Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 (RBH) 6 or the economic Cha-cha bill, which remained pending before the sub-committee on constitutional amendments despite the House’s approval of its own version of the measure, RBH No. 7.
Zubiri was later replaced by Sen. Francis Escudero as Senate president.
Escudero has said his position against Cha-cha has not changed because he sees no reason to amend the Constitution since the so-called restrictive economic provisions being sought to be revised have already been remedied back in the 18th Congress.
