Prolonged Cha-cha debates alarm ex-Chief Justice

The prolonged debates on whether or not the country needs Charter change may shoo away investors that lawmakers believe will play a pivotal role in the economy’s fate.

Ex-Chief Justice Reynato Puno made the remark during the third day of the Committee of the Whole proceedings on Resolution of Both Houses 7, which seeks to relax the constitutional restrictions on foreign ownership in public services, education, and the advertising industry said to be hampering the flow of foreign investments into the country.

Puno said the diverging stances of the House of Representatives and the Senate on how they will meet to propose amendments to the 1987 Constitution, particularly the manner of voting, may prompt foreign business people to have misgivings about investing in the country.

According to Puno, enticing foreign capital into the country will be elusive “when you have schools of thought contending against each other, giving various interpretations of this ambiguous provision which is fit for a unicameral Congress.”

“We are in uncharted waters. The possibility is that a case will challenge the constitutionality of this Resolution of Both Houses 7. Perhaps we should avoid that possibility in case going to the Supreme Court seriously challenges the constitutionality of this resolution,” he said.

“We know that if that probability happens, all our desires, all our wishes to invite foreign businesses may not come to reality because once this case is pending in the Supreme Court, we do not know the time when the case will be decided. We do not know how the court will decide. If you are a foreign investor, will you invest in that kind of environment?” he asked.

In the same hearing, lawyer-activist Neri Colminares, a former lawmaker, denounced the current position of the legislators, whom he said seemed to justify the entry of foreign investors “by allowing them to control the lifeblood of our country.”

The House and the Senate have been at odds over the latter’s reluctance to make Cha-cha happen for fear it would eliminate the upper chamber from the equation.

Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio had previously warned that members of the House could transform the current government system into a parliamentary one should the people’s initiative advance, making the Senate’s abolition imminent.

House leaders, however, allayed fears that they were eyeing to stamp out their counterparts in the Senate.

Critics of Charter change, including former president Rodrigo Duterte, have slammed efforts to amend the Constitution, alleging that the move was a veiled bid by politicians, including his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to extend their terms.

However, pro-Cha-cha legislators contend that amending specific economic provisions will not be coupled with political interest, insisting that the objective is merely to relax the restrictive economic provisions on foreign capital and investments entering the country.