‘Phl missing out on huge investments due to Charter restrictions’

MANILA, Philippines - The Constitution must be “nimble and responsive” to global developments so it can help in sustaining the country’s economy, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines said yesterday.

Julian Payne, president of the Canadian chamber, told the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments that the Philippines has been missing out on huge investments because of restrictions on the entry of foreign capital in the country.

“Capital is extremely mobile, and the Philippines has not been getting its share,” Payne told members of the panel, chaired by Davao City Rep. Mylene Garcia-Albano.

“Investors go where it is easier to invest, and the beauty of this legislation is that it will enable Filipinos to be responsive to realities of the 21st century,” he said.

The business leader was referring to House Resolution No. 1 authored by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. seeking to ease the restrictions on the economic provisions of the Constitution.

He said one of the global trade and economic developments that the country should take advantage of is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) among countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Under the resolution, the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” would be included in various sections of Articles XII (national economy and patrimony), XIV (education, science and technology, arts, culture and sports), and XVI (general provisions).

This means the constitutional restrictions will remain until Congress passes specific amendments, which are approved in a nationwide plebiscite.

Peter Wallace, chairman of the Wallace Business Forum, told the hearing that easing the restrictions would “get the attention of the world” and prove that the Philippines is serious about inviting foreign investors.

He said fewer economic restrictions would also allow transfer of technology, enhance managerial capacity, and allow the country greater access to the world market.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, president of the Centrist Democratic Party and a proponent of House Resolution No. 1, said TPP members Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam will have a combined Gross Domestic Product of $28 trillion and account for about a third of all world trade.

The lawmaker said South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan are also set to join the TPP.

John Forbes of the American Chamber of Commerce told lawmakers that to join the TPP, the Philippines must allow greater foreign participation in various sectors of the economy.

“If you’re not in it (TPP), you missed an opportunity,” Forbes said. “There is a global supply chain included and interconnected, and you cannot be outside this trading group.”

Inclusive growth

Rodriguez said the country needs economic Charter change (Cha-cha) to achieve “inclusive growth, or growth that the poor among our people can feel.”

In a television interview, Rodriguez said though the economy has expanded by more than seven percent a year under President Aquino, many economists are claiming that such expansion is largely “jobless growth that hasn’t trickled down to the poor.”

This means that the economy has not created enough jobs for people who are unemployed and underemployed, he said.

He said people would feel the benefits of growth through sufficient job and income opportunities, which would be created if there were more investments in the economy.

He added that he and other Cha-cha proponents believe that such investments would come in if restrictions in the Constitution on foreign ownership of land and certain businesses were lifted.

Rodriguez is supporting the proposal of Belmonte for the amendment of the Constitution to allow Congress to lift economic restrictions when needed.

Rodriguez has withdrawn his bill asking Congress to convene a constitutional convention to propose sweeping amendments, including changing the form of government from presidential with a bicameral legislature to parliamentary with a unicameral law-making body.

He said scores of business groups, including those composed of foreign businessmen, are supporting economic Cha-cha because of the belief that the economy could attain higher growth if restrictions were lifted.

He maintained that President Aquino is keeping an open mind on economic Cha-cha.

He recounted his recent meeting with Aquino, in which they discussed the constitutional amendment initiative of administration allies in the House.

He said he told the President that the economy could attain double-digit growth if foreign restrictions were scrapped.

He said Aquino “was listening intently.”

Militant party-list representatives have claimed that Malacañang is secretly supporting the Cha-cha push of its House allies.

But Belmonte, Rodriguez, Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Dasmariñas City in Cavite, and other Cha-cha proponents denied that Aquino, who has publicly opposed Cha-cha, was behind his allies’ initiative.

In Bacolod City, Rep. Mercedes Alvarez said most House members support amendments to economic provisions in the Charter.

“Right now, the economic provisions in our Constitution are very rigid,” she said. “We want to insert the phrase ‘as otherwise provided by law’ in certain provisions of the Constitution,” she said. “Later, it is possible to come up with a law if there is a need to open up the economy and industry to foreign investors,” she said.

She cited an existing provision limiting foreign ownership of property to 40 percent. “Some foreigners are hesitant to invest because of that,” she added.    â€“  With Jess Diaz, Danny Dangcalan