EDITORIAL - Wooing investors

Twelve out of thousands is not a lot. Twelve is the number of bills that local and foreign business groups are urging Congress to pass before lawmakers become preoccupied with the campaign for the midterm elections in 2013. Businessmen estimate that there is only about a year left during which the 15th Congress can concentrate on measures that can improve the investment climate.

Those measures have been pushed for a long time by business groups. Several of the measures are already far along in the legislative mill. One – the Freedom of Information Act, which promotes transparency in governance and is supported by media organizations – was junked by the House of Representatives in the final moments of the 14th Congress, thanks mostly to then speaker Prospero Nograles Jr.

Another measure being pushed by the business groups seeks to give more teeth to the Anti-Money Laundering Act, through stiffer penalties and the inclusion of more predicate crimes. Amendments to the measure have been proposed for years by the Anti-Money Laundering Council. The Aquino administration, which espouses the straight path or daang matuwid in governance, should push its congressional allies to give priority to the passage of this bill as well as the Freedom of Information Act.

Other laws that the business groups want are not unreasonable. These include measures rationalizing fiscal incentives, curbing smuggling and modernizing Customs, promoting fair competition, supporting creative industries, protecting data privacy, and allowing local government units to receive directly their 40 percent share from National Wealth Taxes.

The business groups also want the prohibition on night work for women lifted. Thousands of women are already working at night, particularly in business process outsourcing. Also being pushed are the Financial Rehabilitation and Insolvency Act as well as the GOCC Governance Act.

Those are just a dozen measures. The Aquino administration has been telling investors that the country is open for business, with a level playing field and better investment rules under new management. Business confidence has improved, but investors see a lot more that must be done. Passing many of the measures pushed by business groups should be a good start.