Business groups weigh in on charter change

THE SENATE is looking to invite business groups Makati Business Club (MBC), Management Association of the Philippines ( MAP), and the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines ( FINEX) in its next hearing on charter change following a joint statement recommending a focus on amending the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

“We welcome their inputs, especially on [ separate voting and constitutional convention]. The Senate committee on constitutional amendments would invite them in the next hearings,” Senator Francis N. Pangilinan, chair of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes, said in a text message to the BusinessWorld.

In a joint statement issued on Sunday, Jan. 21, the business groups called for separate voting of the two chambers of Congress as being “more democratic.” They also urged the holding of a constitutional convention as “the appropriate body to amend the Constitution.”

The business groups also expressed “strong support” for Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 2, as filed by former House Speaker and Quezon City Representative Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr. That resolution, from way back the 16th Congress, proposes the lifting of economic restrictions by inserting the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law” in the 1987 Constitution.

RBH No. 2, however, is also adopted by the much more recent House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) No. 9 which the House of Representatives approved last Tuesday, Jan. 16. HCR No. 9 calls on Congress to be convened into a constituent assembly, ahead of provisions being crafted on the watch of the House committee on constitutional amendments that aim to overhaul the present system of government into a federal structure. — with Camille A. Aguinaldo