‘Government eyeing economic Cha-cha, nothing more’

MANILA, Philippines —  The administration is not pushing for political amendments to the Constitution, with President Marcos reassuring the public that the proposed reforms in the Charter would be limited to economic provisions.

Amid speculations on the motives behind efforts to amend the Charter, Marcos said his administration is just after the provisions that hinder the entry of investments.

“Allow me to make it clear: this administration’s position in introducing reforms for the Constitution extends to economic matters alone... For those… strategically aimed at boosting our economy. Nothing more,” Marcos said during the commemoration of Constitution Day in Makati yesterday.

He said the presence of restrictive economic provisions was the reason why no less than 300 measures pushing for economic Charter change have been filed since the 8th Congress.

As the House of Representatives and the Senate engage in a word war over Charter change, Marcos vowed to allow the debates on the issue to continue.

“We must allow this healthy and democratic debate to wage on... especially that the social economic development of our country is directly involved,” the President said.

In a recent interview with GMA News, Marcos said he was open to amending some political provisions of the Charter but expressed belief that it is not yet time to do so.

“We really have to think about that… we can have these discussions later on. But for the present day, my concern is the economic provisions.”

Speaker Martin Romualdez welcomed the statement of the President on the need and urgency for amending the Constitution’s “restrictive” economic provisions.

“The President made it clear that these provisions hinder the entry of foreign investments and the potential for faster and inclusive economic growth, which in turn could translate to a better life for every Filipino,” he said.

“We are happy that he also took note of our consistent advocacy in the House of Representatives for changing those restrictive provisions for more than three decades since the 8th Congress, or since 36-37 years ago,” Romualdez, the leader of the 300-plus-strong House of Representatives, said.

Romualdez also lauded the