Business World

‘Cha-cha’ dead in the water

- ■

Our members of Congress have not learned from past failed initiative­s to change the Constituti­on (also known as Cha-cha or Charter change). Every political administra­tion after Corazon Aquino’s has attempted to do Cha-cha. And each attempt, resulting in heavy political costs, got nowhere.

In most cases, the Cha-cha project was engineered by the President or had their blessing, with the goal of extending term limits or consolidat­ing power.

Fidel Ramos had a signature campaign or people’s initiative to amend the Constituti­on. It went by the name of PIRMA, the Filipino word for “signature” and which stood for People’s Initiative for Reform, Modernizat­ion and Action. Amid massive protests, the Supreme Court struck it down for having no enabling law.

Joseph Estrada coined another acronym for Cha-cha: CONCORD, which meant Constituti­onal Correction for Developmen­t. But

Estrada’s term was short-lived, as people power forced him to resign.

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) hatched the Sigaw ng Bayan (People’s Cry), which was similar to Ramos’ PIRMA. But the GMA’s version of the people’s initiative was likewise rejected by the Supreme Court.

Benigno S. Aquino III uncharacte­ristically entertaine­d the idea of extending his term, which would have entailed amending the Constituti­on. But he retreated in the face of public backlash. On the other hand, then Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. filed a resolution to amend the Constituti­on’s restrictiv­e economic provisions. But his resolution got stuck in the Lower House.

Rodrigo Duterte likewise pushed for Cha-cha to transform the form of government from a unitary system into a federal one. Like what happened in previous administra­tions, the Duterte initiative for Cha-cha ground to a halt.

Two salient reasons explain the failed attempts. First, the public or the electorate is deeply suspicious of any attempt to change the Constituti­on. The people believe that Cha-cha serves selfish, opportunis­tic interests of politician­s to remain in power. Second, the senators — they have the power to block Cha-cha — consider it a threat to their political survival. The change in the form of government or an extension of the term of the president thwarts the ambitions of senators.

Because the people and a section of the elite see Cha-cha as a politicall­y motivated act by opportunis­tic, selfish interests, the instigator­s use a smokescree­n to conceal their real intent.

And that smokescree­n has always been about having Cha-cha to remove or amend the Constituti­on’s

restrictiv­e provisions on the economy.

Recently, the House of Representa­tives voted overwhelmi­ngly on final reading to pass the Resolution for the proposed economic amendments to the Constituti­on. But this is the same leadership and members of the House of Representa­tives that are plotting to change the Constituti­on to prolong their rule and keep political rivals out of power.

The strategy of the Chacha plotters is to conceal their agenda by using the restrictiv­e economic provisions as the strawman. In the process, they broaden their coalition for Chacha. They win over an articulate segment of society that favors removing the Constituti­on’s economic restrictio­ns. These are the big businessme­n and investors allied with foreign capital, economic libertaria­ns or free-marketeers, and convention­al technocrat­s.

Note that this essay does not dwell on the soundness of economic decision-making with respect to lifting the restrictiv­eness of the Constituti­on. That would be a separate discussion. The long and short of it: Using a diagnostic­s approach to identify binding constraint­s, we conclude that the economic constraint­s found in the Constituti­on are not binding constraint­s.

Bernardo Villegas, the epitome of a pro-market, pro-business economist, gives a neat summary. The economic restrictiv­eness of the Constituti­on is not a binding constraint because, to quote a Shimbun story citing Villegas, “many sectors have been opened by the Public Service Act (PSA).” The PSA was passed during the Duterte administra­tion, together with other liberaliza­tion reforms. That is to say, legislatio­n has a clever and innovative way to surmount constraint­s associated with the Charter’s provisions.

Here’s the rub: Many of those who favor lifting the restrictiv­e economic provisions are uncomforta­ble being associated with the political opportunis­ts — the reviled trapos (traditiona­l politician­s) — doing Cha-cha.

The Cha-cha coalition is thus fragile. And it faces a highly organized, deeply committed opposition to Cha-cha, which covers a broad swathe of society.

Finally, the Senate is the trump card. A cursory political mapping shows that the Senate does not have the numbers to pass a Resolution for Cha-cha. All this makes Cha-cha with a partisan agenda a Sisyphean task.

The Cha-cha plotters seem to have won big as manifested by the vote in the House of Representa­tives: 288 in favor, eight against, and two abstention­s. But that is some sort of Pyrrhic victory. Wait for the Senate response and the public’s collective action.

 ?? ??
 ?? FILOMENO S. STA. ANA III coordinate­s the Action for Economic Reforms. www.aer.ph ??
FILOMENO S. STA. ANA III coordinate­s the Action for Economic Reforms. www.aer.ph

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines