Talks of Chacha but. . .

A new initiative for charter change proposed by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. sometime ago has recently developed in the House of Representative. The justification: Amending the constitutional provision on foreign investment in the country. This is an urgent move considering that among Asian countries at present the Philippines has, according to report, the lowest foreign direct investment (FDI).

In fact, in the report of FDI Intelligence for 2012, the Philippines was not even listed in the top ten investment destinations among Asia-Pacific countries. These countries (arranged from high to low in number of projects) are: China, India, Singapore, Australia, Hongkong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea.

Why is our country not among the priority places in the inflow of foreign capitals?  There have been observations that this country is attractive to foreign capitalists because of our highly educated and skilled workers, that because English is our second language. Filipino workers are easy to train and instruct. But where are the investors? Except in BPOs there are but a few in other areas of economic activities. Why? The reasons are aplenty, but one significant reason has to do with restrictions. These are constitutional restrictions which can only be lifted by amending the 1987 Constitution.

For this reason, Speaker Belmonte with some House Representatives (Congressmen Magdangal Gunigondo and Romero Quimbo among them) has revived the move to generate interest towards charter change. Will this prosper?

With president Aquino's public statements against chacha it is doubtful if that initiative can take off even in the Lower House itself. It is common knowledge that most congressmen regardless of party affiliation don't have the nerve to wade against the thought current of Malacañang. Remember the Corona impeachment resolution and how it steam rollered the minds of most congressmen? Remember the Senate version of a “telenovela” which was the Corona trial? And yet that was supposed to be an independent minded Upper House with only a few PNoy partymates. Now with the new set of senators, who can prevail against the wishes of the president?

Yet PNoy's phobia against amending the Constitution could be a major flaw of his leadership. The average Filipino knows that the present Constitution has provisions that need to be recast if not cast out. Chalk one for that crazy party-list provision which has been taken advantage of by left-leaning anti-democratic groups. Chalk two for provisions that limit the entry of foreign capitalists into the country, a policy that has throttled progress and kept this land in a third-world state for decades now.

Chalk three for a highly centralized bureaucracy which has spawned an “Imperial Manila” and kept the socio-economic development of the regional capitals in the countryside diaspora at turtle pace. The solution for this should have been the adoption of a federal system of government composed of empowered states, a system conducive to effective governance. This would mean of course dispersal of authority from the capital city to the state governments.    These, and many other built-in handicaps in the 1987 Constitution call for immediate surgical remedies. Reflected on soulfully, a good leader cannot help but plunge himself and his support groups into an all out effort to effect changes in our basic laws which have impeded our march towards a more prosperous state. But such efforts require solid guts. Courage is needed to set aside personal interest in favor of the common good. Courage is needed to forget party sentiments and feel the sentiments of the mainstream Filipinos who are longing for a better quality of life.

Sadly, four presidents have come and gone since the end of Martial Law but not one dared to tinker with the Constitution.

Now a fresh one with "daang matuwid" mandate rules the land. Will he too be as unseeing as his predecessors?