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(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Garbin, chairperson of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, issued a statement as President Duterte certified as urgent on Monday, April 12, three Senate bills to “provide a more conducive investment climate, increase job opportunities, foster more competition, and further spur the country’s economic growth”.
These were bills proposing amendments to the Public Service Act, Foreign Investments Act, and Retail Trade Liberalization Act all of which were already passed in the House of Representatives.
“These three economic measures certified as urgent by the President work towards improving the overall competitiveness of the country to attract investment. A look into the Restrictive provision of the 1987 Constitution which have hampered the inflow of FDIs (foreign direct investments) in the Country is also warranted,” Garbin commented.
Reporter
POLICY MAKERS must ensure that the countryâs institutions and vulnerable communities are capacitated and equipped to deal with economic liberalization measures before passing the so-called âeconomicâ Charter change (Cha-cha), analysts said.
Jayvy R. Gamboa, a lecturer at the Ateneo De Manila Universityâs (ADMU) Department of Economics, said legislators must consider the socioeconomic and health insecurities of Filipinos before âfurther opening an already insecure country.â
âWe cannot look at the proposed economic Cha-cha in a vacuum,â he said in an e-mail. âSuch a proposal cannot be interpreted without looking at the context in which Filipinos are currently situated: one that is gravely dependent and unfortunately still centered on health concerns or insecurities.â
Published March 14, 2021, 9:09 PM
As plenary debates on the Charter change bid continue in the House of Representatives, its principal proponent expressed confidence that majority in the chamber agree that the 1987 Constitution indeed restricts economic progress in the country.
Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr., chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, said the proposal to insert the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in restrictive economic provisions is the best way to address the situation.
Garbin said Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 would empower Congress to assess and evaluate prevailing economic factors before determining the wisdom of opening up certain sectors of the economy.
TAGUIG CITY, March 8 (PIA) The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) today said the opposition of the so-called Makabayan Bloc in Congress to the economic amendments in the 1987 Philippine Constitution is based on an impractical and outdated economic model that would lead to higher unemployment and suffering for many Filipinos.
“The so-called Makabayan Bloc opposes the lifting of the restrictive economic provisions in our constitution because they adhere to their own so-called ‘national industrialization program’ where the electric, water, mining, oil, telecommunications and transportation industries, among others, are to be confiscated from their owners and taken over by the State as dictated by their obsolete ideology,” said DILG Spokesperson and Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya.