Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas Let me stress that I am in favor of opening up these strategic sectors to more foreign equity not because I believe in untrammelled free market economics. Unrestrained free markets do not serve the common good. There should always be a strong role of the State to prevent the undesirable consequences of the absolute autonomy of the market, such as monopoly power that hurts the consumers, the inequitable distribution of income and wealth, the destruction of local enterprises by all-powerful global corporations and the employment of slave labor by multinational corporations. It is possible that ten to twenty years from now, some of these threats may loom very large in the global and domestic markets. Then, it would be necessary to have our future Legislature limit once again the foreign ownership of our strategic sectors. That is why, I find the phrase “unless otherwise specified by law” a wise legislative move. It will still be incumbent upon the legislative body to monitor what is happening to the global, regional and domestic economies and make whatever adjustments are needed in our laws to promote the common good. What is irrational is to enshrine foreign equity provisions in our fundamental law.