Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 22) — A lawmaker on Wednesday said the widespread dislike of proposals to amend the 1987 Constitution may have made President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. give his support to the move in secret.
“Most probably, the president does not want himself to be embroiled in an unpopular initiative because the previous moves to alter the Constitution were not popular,” Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
While Marcos already said it is not a priority of his administration, the House of Representatives Committee on Constitutional Amendments on Monday approved a Resolution of Both Houses pushing for charter change, or cha-cha.
Lawmakers pushing for the amendment said it is already time to ease the Charter’s economic provisions to attract more foreign investments.
Lagman, however, said this could be done without having to touch the Constitution.
“I don’t think there is a huge clamor to liberalize the economic provisions in the Constitution,” he pointed out. “What I note and what is documented is that investors will come in if there will be ease of doing business in the country, two [is] less official corruption, three [is] more speed in our internet process, four [is] a better infrastructure, and five [is] predictability of government policies.”
To encourage more investments, the lawmaker also said the government should be more attuned to the international rule of law.
Instead of allocating the ₱18 billion budget to this move, the government should just put the funds in programs that will address the country’s current problems, like poverty, high inflation rate, food insecurity, and a possible recession, Lagman said.
Under the resolution, the amendments will be done through a constitutional convention, which will require electing representatives to the convention. The polls will be done simultaneously with the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections this October.
Lagman said this is a wrong move because “that would gravely impair the non-partisan character of the grass root elections.”
