Business luminaries to weigh in on Cha-cha

MANILA, Philippines — It will be the turn of business and corporate executives to share their thoughts on moves in Congress to amend the 1987 Constitution, at the next Senate subcommittee public hearing on the proposal on Monday.

Sen. Sonny Angara, who chairs the subcommittee on constitutional amendments and revisions of code, said representatives from the country’s big business groups and economists have been invited to share their expert opinions on the Resolution of Both Houses 6, which seeks to amend economic provisions deemed “restrictive.”

“They are the ones used to talking to investors,” he said yesterday, expressing confidence the resource persons at next week’s hearing can help the subcommittee make an informed decision on the issue.

Angara said his panel is expecting representatives from the Makati Business Club, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Management Association of the Philippines, among others, to shed light on the state of the country’s economy including its receptiveness to foreign investment.

Last week, the Senate panel invited legal luminaries, among them former chief justice Hilario Davide, associate justices Adolf Azcuna and Vicente Mendoza, and former Commission on Elections chairman Christian Monsod.

Angara said more legal experts are expected in the coming public hearings, which he said may be held on a weekly basis. Among those expected to participate in future hearings to represent the legal community are other members of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, including commissioner Rene Sarmiento, former chief justice Ricardo Puno, former justices Antonio Carpio and Artemio Panganiban, and professors of constitutional law from the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University.

Angara’s move to widen participation in the discussion of RBH 6 is in line with President Marcos’ assurance to the public on Thursday that only the Charter’s restrictive economic provisions would be touched.

The senator said experts from the education sector and the advertising industry would also be invited to future hearings.

Angara, along with Senate President Miguel Zubiri and Senate Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, authored RBH 6, which seeks to amend three constitutional economic provisions related to public service, education and advertising.

Flexibility

He expressed belief that the economic provisions in the Constitution should have some flexibility to allow the country to adjust to worldwide economic trends.

“We cannot keep up with the movement or shape of the global economy. Other countries just pass laws, they pass policies, we will amend the Constitution to adjust to economic trends worldwide,” he said.

Cha-cha proponents attribute the low level of foreign direct investment to what they consider as restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution.

On the other hand, Cha-cha foes point to corruption, red tape and the overall difficulty of doing business in the country as stumbling blocks.

Also invited to the hearing on Monday are some of the framers of the 1987 Constitution: Bernardo Villegas, Florangel Rosario Braid and Ricardo Romulo. National Scientists Raul Fabella, Emmanuel Maceda and Joseph Angeles are also invited to speak on economic issues.

The Lunar New Year, meanwhile, should be an opportunity for Congress to stand down, reflect and go back to work, according to Sen. Nancy Binay.

In welcoming the Lunar New Year, Binay appealed to her colleagues in the House to refrain from engaging in the “lowest levels of unpleasantries and regressive civility just to diminish and humiliate the Senate.”

“Sad to say, the behavior of some of our colleagues in Congress has fallen too far below the standard that the public expects from members of the legislature. The bullying, the absurd spats, the unnecessary remarks have brought shame on both houses of Congress,” Binay said.

Angara asserted that “the House is bullying the Senate.”

Binay said that for the past month, the word war between the House of Representatives and the Senate has evolved into the political equivalent of the tabloid talk show “Face-2-Face.”