THE chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments said the proposals to insert the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in the Constitution would empower Congress to assess and evaluate prevailing economic factors before opening up certain sectors of the economy.
Panel Chairman Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo A. Garbin Jr. said that the way the Constitution’s economic provisions are phrased at present provides no leeway in matters like foreign equity restrictions.
“Right now, there can be no debate on this as the restrictions are mandated by the law of the land; it is a dead end, so to speak,” Garbin said.
“With RBH 2 [Resolution of Both Houses 2], we will insert a door, but we will not automatically open it for foreign investors; we will simply allow them to knock—and it is up to us in Congress to let them in if we believe this is to our benefit,” he added.
Garbin said the “beauty” of the proposed amendments is that “Congress may reduce, remove or even restore the economic restriction as may be called by the prevailing circumstances.”
The Constitution’s current restrictions preclude discussions of this nature but under the proposed amendments in RBH 2, Garbin explained that details with regard to opening the economy “would still be subject to constitutional procedure for legislation, which requires consultations, extensive deliberations and voting and the subsequent action of Congress.”
Earlier, Speaker Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco has said deliberations on constitutional amendments to the economic provisions would last until May. Velasco said doing so would give all members of Congress the opportunity to debate on the proposal put forward under RBH 2, which he introduced.
Velasco said the RBH 2 seeks to give Congress the flexibility to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution to help the Philippine economy recover from Covid-19 pandemic.
The resolution seeks to amend certain economic provisions of the 33-year-old Charter particularly Articles XII (National Economy and Patrimony), XIV (Education, Science, Technology, Arts, Culture and Sports) and XVI (General Provisions).
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