Ancestral lands will continue to be protected, Concom head assures

Members of the Constitutional Commission tasked to propose revisions to the Philippine Constitution have assured the business community that ancestral lands would continue to be protected and would not be subjected to any liberalization, according to Concom Commissioner Francis Chua.

Following several consultations so far with the business community, Local Government Units and the public, Chua reported, some consensus appears to be shaping up.

Particularly, Chua said, there appears to be a favorable willingness to shift to a parliamentary form of government.

On the other hand, Chua disclosed, there is a lot of resistance to a federal form of government especially from the Governors who fear that they would lose power since under a federal form of government, the power would be in the hand of the state.

On liberalization, Chua noted that there appears to be a big difference in perception between urban dwellers and those in the provinces.

City dwellers, Chua observed, are more keen to accept liberalization in media, education, natural resources and land ownership.

On the other hand, those living in the provinces, Chua said, are more narrow in their thinking and oppose opening up their natural resources, media and land ownership particularly agricultural lands to foreigners.

The ConCom, Chua explained, are still in the consultation process but are hoping to finalize their recommendations by Dec. 15.

The ConCom, Chua said, have outlined their recommendations to three major issues.

These are the form of government, the structure of the government and national patrimony and economic provision. The economic provisions, Chua elaborated, involve liberalization of media, education, mining, natural resources and land. Liberalization of land is further divided into agricultural and residential.