EDITORIAL - Obstacle to economic reforms

There is general agreement that amending certain protectionist economic provisions in the Constitution can attract more job-generating investments. The biggest obstacle here is the possibility that the effort will be exploited by certain officials to advance their personal political agenda, with the consequences being worse for the country than if the Constitution is left untouched.

Amid the global financial meltdown, allies of the administration in the House of Representatives are hard at work gathering support for the latest revival of the initiative to amend the Constitution. The game plan this time, as explained by Speaker Prospero Nograles, is that the House would convene itself into a constituent assembly, with or without the participation of the Senate, and propose Charter amendments, leaving the Supreme Court to decide on the constitutionality of the moves. The assembly will supposedly focus on economic provisions, though congressmen have let on that lifting term limits could be added to the effort.

The SC is now being asked to rule on the constitutionality of Charter change under the game plan of Nograles. Senators have long expressed their opposition to the idea that a constituent assembly can be convened without the participation of their chamber. The idea was first proposed by Nograles’ predecessor, Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. Back then the biggest concern of certain quarters was that amending economic provisions would serve merely as a smokescreen for the principal objective, which is a shift to a parliamentary system with certain politicians, President Arroyo included, extending their stay in office even if with diluted powers.

Similar concerns have been raised in the revival of Charter change and the rush of the House to get the effort rolling before the next election season rolls around. If the concerns prove accurate, the Supreme Court will also have to rule on whether a constituent assembly can revise the Charter, which is what is needed if the system of government will be changed. The need to amend economic provisions to make the country more globally competitive has long been held back by a few individuals’ personal agenda.