Groups say Constitution needs enabling laws, not amendments

Groups say Constitution needs enabling laws, not amendments

“Globally in the past ten years, the trend among countries is to put in restrictions and protection into their domestic economic policies; this is also true even among those who are pushing the Philippines to remove restrictions against foreign capital.” – Sonny Africa, Ibon Foundation
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com
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MANILA – Eighty-two of the Philippines’ 130 constitutional provisions still have no enabling law; for the economic provisions in particular, at least eight articles still have no enabling law up to now, said Philippine Constitutional Association’s Manolo Gorospe during this week’s hearing in congress on charter change or cha-cha. The economic provisions that have no enabling law, he told bulatlat.com, include Articles 2 to 4, 8, 14, 16, 20 and 22.

The laws that have been passed serve only to push to maximum levels the further and wider liberalization of some sectors of the economy, said Sonny Africa, head of the research department of non-government think-tank Ibon Foundation at the public hearing. The nationalist economic provisions of the Philippine Constitution have not been implemented, he said, adding that this helps to explain why unemployment is at its worst today, as do the country’s persistently stunted agriculture and manufacturing.

“Since Congress has failed to pass enabling laws, or since many provisions of the Constitution have not been implemented, what are you going to amend now?” asked Gorospe.

Philconsa’s Manolo Gorospe at the chacha hearing. (Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

The House of Representatives has been holding public hearings on its Concurrent Resolution 10, which calls for Congress to constitute itself into a constituent assembly to propose amendments to economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution. A similar effort is afoot in the Senate although the House is still awaiting the Senate draft.

“As presented to the committee by resource persons from various sectors, the idea behind the move for constitutional amendment is to remove the restrictions in the economic provisions to the entry and participation of foreign investors, so the country’s economy can be flexible,” said the chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments Rep. Loreto S. Ocampos at the end of this week’s hearing.

Resource speakers who attended the public hearing asked Congress to maintain instead the “good policies” written in the present Constitution. The 1987 Constitution is “a moment of wisdom” for the Filipino framers of the Constitution, said Sonny Africa during the hearing. He reminded the members of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments that historically, not one country has developed without maintaining economic restrictions or protection.

Citing figures and data in a presentation, he also showed that globally in the past ten years, the trend among countries is to put in restrictions and protection into their domestic economic policies. Africa observed that this is also true even among those who are pushing the Philippines to remove restrictions against foreign capital.

L to R: Bayan’s Renato Reyes and Ibon Phils.’ Sonny Africa at House committee hearing on chacha proposals. (Photo by Marya Salamat / bulatlat.com)

Based on the experiences of other countries including its neighbors whose economic policies are less liberalized or more protected than in the Philippines, Africa said, “The potential gains from foreign investments did not just happen without strong government regulations.” Without being anti-foreign investments per se, he pointed to the examples of some governments who pushed for technology sharing while others required their foreign investors to source raw or intermediate materials from the host country, to increase its economic gains from foreign investments.

“Experiences and common sense say that foreign investments are looking more for rich sources of profits; they cannot be depended on to develop our economy,” said Africa. Ibon Foundation is one of the groups that are opposed to the current drive among lawmakers to change the economic provisions of the present charter to further liberalize the economy. Citing again the experiences of other countries, Africa said, foreign investments have to be regulated if the country is to gain from its operations..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/10/13/groups-say-constitution-needs-enabling-laws-not-amendments/