House panel set to resume Cha-cha hearings

MANILA, Philippines - The House committee on constitutional amendments is set to resume on Tuesday public hearings on various proposals to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution amid suspicions from the opposition and the reluctance of President Aquino to pursue Charter change.

Misamis Occidental Rep. Loreto Leo Ocampos, chairman of the panel, said representatives from various sectors have been invited to the hearing as the committee members wanted to get more inputs before coming out with a report and voting on it.

“We will continue our consultations with stakeholders and experts on this issue. We are still on this (consultation) mode,” Ocampos told The STAR.

He said business leaders, including those from foreign chambers, already submitted their position papers and comments to the committee in the hearing last August.

He said the public hearing after next week would likely be held out-of-town to bring the issue closer to the people.

“We need to inform and educate the people also on Charter change through public hearings,” Ocampos said.

The panel is looking at at least 11 bills and resolutions calling for amendments to the Constitution in various modes, including through a constitutional convention, and a constituent assembly, where Congress convenes as a Charter-amending body.

“This (Charter change) is the initiative of Congress. I am very positive that at a certain point, there will be a convergence of agreement between the executive and the legislative,” Ocampos told reporters last week.

During the last hearing of the committee, the lawmaker proposed some amendments, including the removal of the provision for the exclusive control and management of Filipinos over companies in the Philippines with foreign equity; removal of the 60-40 equity limit in companies favoring Filipinos; expansion of the role of foreign investors in the exploration, development and utilization of natural resources; allowing foreigners to practice their profession in the country with the principle of reciprocity foreign investments in tertiary education; extension of the 50-year land lease limits; allowing foreign ownership of industrial lands; and allowing foreign investments in media.

He said last week that the panel could approve a consolidated bill before the end of the year.

‘Convince P-Noy’

Malacañang on Friday said that it would be up to the allies of President Aquino in Congress to convince him to change his position on the issue of amending the Constitution.

“The President has already mentioned that he will listen (to allies) and discuss it,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

But Lacierda said the meeting between the President and his allies in Congress pushing for Charter change (Cha-cha) is not yet final.

Sen. Franklin Drilon admitted that without Aquino’s support, efforts of lawmakers to rewrite the Charter are doomed to fail.

Drilon said this would be the best time to pursue Cha-cha because the President is not interested in extending his term or running for another position after 2016.         

“I think it is a matter for the senators and allies to convince the President. Right now, while it is true that he has no further political ambition after six years, his position remains the same – that there is no need to amend the Constitution,” Lacierda said.        

“So it will take first the senators to ask the President to reconsider his position and that is where the meeting will take place and to flesh out their ideas,” he added.        

He said the issue on Cha-cha was discussed during the last Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, but he stressed the move was not yet ready for “prime time.” Lacierda said the President has not had any discussion on the proposal to limit the changes to economic provisions.       

For his part, Vice President Jejomar Binay said the move to amend the Constitution might go beyond the economic provisions.

“While the assurance was made that the amendments will focus only on economic provisions, there is still the chance that it will go beyond it,” Binay told participants of the “Pabahay Caravan” in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro yesterday.

“This is purely a Congressional initiative,” Binay said.

His mother’s son

Meanwhile, Batangas Archbishop Ramon Arguelles yesterday said he believes President Aquino’s anti-Charter change position would please even his mother, the late former President Corazon Aquino.

“I guess his mother is happy. Let us hope he continues to follow the mind of the late president and think of the total welfare of the Filipino people,” said the Batangas prelate.

When Mrs. Aquino was still alive, she openly fought against efforts of former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to pass the Cha-cha during her time.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, on the other hand, believes anti-Cha-cha groups should first observe the latest developments because while Malacañang says it is not interested in tinkering with the fundamental law of the land, this might not dissuade pro-Cha-cha groups.

“My perception is that Aquino’s stand might not matter much anymore in the two branches of government, the judiciary and the legislative. I don’t think that they take him that seriously,” he said.

Cruz added that even the Chief Executive might also be confused on his stand.

“There are those who still say that secretly, he (Aquino) wants it and I, frankly, I don’t know what he wants or does not want – there is that perception that he wants it. He is not clear, he is not certain. His conviction is not clear, not that strong. That is what I think,” he said. – With Aurea Calica, Jose Rodel Clapano, Evelyn Macairan