Charter Change

More business groups (now 10) reject economic charter change at this time, says passage of the Public Service Act that eases foreign investment limits on some sectors will do for now | @meltlopez pic.twitter.com/bzRPcEseJ7 — CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) January 22, 2021

by Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star), 11 Jan 2021 MANILA, Philippines — Business groups, including the most influential in post-Marcos era administrations, have expressed support for the lifting of prohibitive economic provisions in the 34-year-old Constitution enacted during the time of the late president Corazon Aquino, according to a congressman.

by ABS-CBN News, 18 May 2020 MANILA – Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Monday denied a report that it was collecting 2 million signatures in support of constitutional amendments as the country fought the COVID-19 pandemic.

by Pathricia Ann V. Roxas, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jan 1, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — A multi-sectoral group on Tuesday warned the public of 12 “dangerous, anti-Filipino, anti-youth, anti-NGO, and anti-democracy provisions” under the House draft federal charter principally authored by Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

by Gaea Katreena Cabico (philstar.com), May 2, 2018 MANILA, Philippines — There are more Filipinos expressing opposition on the proposed move to amend the 1987 Constitution, according to the latest survey conducted by Pulse Asia. The poll, conducted from March 23 to 28, showed that 64 percent of Filipinos do not want charter change. Of…

By: Nestor Corrales, INQUIRER.net, Jan 25, 2018 President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed the members to the consultative committee to review the 1987 Constitution.

By: Kristine Angeli Sabillo, / @KSabilloINQINQUIRER.net, August 01, 2016 There are currently more Filipinos opposing the proposed Charter change, the latest Pulse Asia survey said. Results of the poll, conducted from July 2 to 8, showed that 44 percent of the 1,200 respondents believe that the Constitution should not be amended for now.

BE SPECIFIC: Instead of griping in general about strict provisions of the Constitution, advocates of amendments opening the door wider to foreign investors should specify the changes they want. That way, the issues could be joined, thus facilitating a more intelligent debate.

FOREIGN investors are keenly awaiting the outcome of the Charter- Change (Cha-cha) initiatives in both houses of Congress to relax the foreign-ownership restrictions in the country, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has recognized the need for amendments in the economic provisions of the Constitution to allow the country to reap the benefits presented by developments in the global trade and investment setting, particularly the ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement.

March 10 (Economist Intelligence Unit) — On March 3rd a committee of the House of Representatives (the lower house) voted overwhelmingly to amend the constitution and give Congress (the legislature) the power to reduce or remove restrictions on foreign participation in certain economic activities. If ratified, the proposal will make it possible to amend the…

MANILA, Philippines—A Constitution where the economic provisions could be amended by law and subject to the whims of Congress could lead to instability, according to local employers and private school associations opposed to the mode of Charter change being proposed by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.

MANILA, Philippines – Work on easing the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution is now officially among the top priorities of the 16th Congress, with Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. expecting to see everything completed within the first half of the year.

RELAXING the country’s foreign ownership limits is critical as competition for investments will be fierce given the global economic downturn, a public advocacy organization said. Amendments to the 1987 Constitution have been pushed over the last two decades and the urgency has not changed, the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) said in a preliminary policy…

A STUDY on the merits of amending the Constitution has yet to be finished, a Cabinet official said, as economic managers continue talks with the private sector and multilateral agencies, particularly on the issue of foreign ownership limits.

Changing the economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution will make inevitable a review of the political structure in the Charter, Sen. Edgardo Angara said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – Amending the economic provisions of the Constitution might just delay economic progress, according to President Aquino. “Changing the Constitution changes the rules of the game which might only delay the progress,” he said.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino has remained firm in his stand against introducing amendments to the 1987 Constitution but nevertheless expressed willingness to listen to the wisdom of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

MANILA, Philippines – A key Cabinet member hinted yesterday that President Aquino is still not keen on proposals to introduce amendments to the 1987 Constitution, but nonetheless stressed that this can be discussed in the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac).

NO EFFORT TO AMEND CONSTITUTION WITHOUT NOY BACKING — JOKER Efforts to tinker with the Constitution have been resurrected and a meeting between Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte has been scheduled to discuss possible changes that can be introduced in the 1987 Charter, Sen. Joker Arroyo said.

“We need to be exporting our products, not our jobs,” says Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) who, with Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), recently introduced the Bring Jobs Home Act (S. 2884 and H.R. 5542). Union and community activists are building support for that bill, as well as the Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act (H.R.…

MANILA, Philippines – The head of the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines praised leaders of Congress for working on constitutional reforms but lamented that President Aquino was not prioritizing amending the 1987 Constitution that could boost the country’s economic standing.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago are once again engaged in a clash, this time on the matter of the feasibility of amending the Constitution through a mode being proposed by Sen. Franklin Drilon labeled by him as a “bicameral constituent assembly.”

The move to amend the Constitution has the possibility of going beyond the economic provisions despite the insistence of House leaders who are pushing Charter change (Cha-cha) that the proposed amendments will be made strictly to enhance the competitiveness of the economy.

Right. Reforming our investment laws is not a silver bullet. I don’t think advocates ever said that. There are other things to do and reform to make the Philippines investment friendly. Removing rules that discriminate against direct foreign investments is a good starting point for reforms.

AMENDMENTS OF CONSTITUTION BY LEGISLATION ILLEGAL The proposed “mongrel” constituent assembly (con-ass) to seek amendments to the 1987 Constitution that was proposed during the Legislative Summit last Thursday is not provided under the Charter and its forming would run contrary to the basic law of the land, according to a senior member of the House…

DRILON PRESSES CHA-CHA, ECONOMIC AMENDMENTS Senators yesterday expectedly raised a howl over the reported consensus reached by Congress leaders during Thursday’s legislative summit, to explore the idea of tinkering with the Constitution, saying that there was no prior discussion on this, much more, was there a collective position among upper chamber members even reached.

Lawmakers agreed yesterday to revive discussions on amending the 1987 Constitution – at least its economic provisions – through a bicameral constituent assembly.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte yesterday said that the House of Representatives is going to push through with the proposed amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution even as an ongoing survey among lawmakers showed that there are currently 68 percent or 153 lawmakers who are in favor of amending the Charter.

Let us examine more specifically the political constitutions of three of our closest neighbors in ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. These economies have managed impressive economic performance over time.