Philippines education to benefit from Cha-cha – NEDA chief

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s higher education system will greatly benefit from the easing of economic provisions of the Constitution, allowing the entry of renowned schools in the country, according to Socio-economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

“Education, I think, is long overdue. From my perspective,” Balisacan said at a Malacañang press briefing on Friday when asked what assets would be favorable for foreign ownership should Charter change push through.

“I think we have missed a major opportunity to have the country as a base for higher education of many countries that have looked for branch campuses outside of their country,” the head of the National Economic and Development Authority said.

Balisacan said countries in Europe – like the United Kingdom – the US and Australia are looking for campuses in Asia and Southeast Asia.

“And where did they go? They go to countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and we would have been the best candidate, because our educational system is something very close to the US, very close to the western countries, and we get the language,” he said.

“But we missed it because we won’t allow ownership of foreigners in the area of education,” Balisacan remarked.

The official added it is “extremely difficult” to employ professors coming from other countries under the present set up.

“We want to tap engineers, the best engineers who we can bring to teach in our schools. But could you get them? I have many friends who have spouses at ADB (Asian Development Bank), who just even want to practice teaching at the University of the Philippines. And we have Ateneo, but they could not. They had difficulty getting that permission because of these restrictions to practice the profession,” he said.

Article 14, Section 4, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution specifies that educational institutions should have at least 60 percent of their capital owned by Filipino citizens.

Like President Marcos, Balisacan said he is also against foreign ownership of land.

“Of course, land. I myself, I would not be in favor of opening that to foreign ownership because of the obvious reason. Once you do that, then ordinary Filipinos like you and me would have difficulty owning lands because that will jack up the prices of land,” he said.

Balisacan stressed there is a need to eliminate unnecessary economic restrictions to make the country more competitive.

“We have a better chance of attracting foreign investments because, as we have seen in the last couple of decades now, most of those big investments are going to our neighbors, which you know, we could have that opportunity to draw them to our shores. But those restrictions are seen as impediments, constitutional restrictions on foreign investments,” he said.

“I think that our President has mentioned that the Constitution was designed for a period that, perhaps, was not responsive to the current state of the world now,” Balisacan said.

He urged lawmakers to agree on the mode of changing the Constitution, noting that such uncertainties drive away investors.

“I hope that they can agree very soon because we don’t also want those uncertainties. Because one of the factors that inhibit investments, whether it’s domestic or foreign, is the state of uncertainty. So, we hope that our leaders will come to a common position quickly so that we can move on,” Balizacan noted.

House Ways and Means chair Joey Salceda underscored yesterday that the faster the Constitution is amended, the better it will be for the country’s economy.

Echoing Balisacan’s earlier comments, Salceda said it will be good for the economy if the legislature can complete the process of Charter change the soonest.

“I agree. Investor certainty is a function of legislative speed. The shorter the debates take, the more certain investors become… But in the House framework, there is no investor uncertainty. If anything, there is cause for investor optimism,” he noted.

According to the Albay representative, the House’s principles on Charter change will reassure investors even more of the country’s economic climate.

He added that under the House proposals, “there will be no investor uncertainty.”

“One, we commit to expanding – never restricting – the scope of the economy that is open to foreign investment. So, there is zero chance of an existing area of investment being suddenly closed off,” Salceda said.

The lawmaker pointed out that under the chamber’s proposal, the country commits to “making investing in the Philippines easier, not harder. This means that no new regulatory restrictions will be imposed on areas that are already open.”

“Three, we commit to expanding access to existing areas of investment that have some restrictions. Existing limits in the Constitution will now be subject to an enabling law under our proposal,” he added.

Salceda said this will allow foreign investors to bring in “even more money so they might need to be more optimistic with their expansion plans.”

“Unlike other reforms where there is a rationalization of existing incentives or benefits, this one will not take away any existing investor rights and privileges. This will expand them… They can invest in more places and more sectors, infuse more capital and hire more Filipinos,” he added. — Sheila Crisostomo