Robin to prioritize economic Cha-cha measures

The proposed shift to a federal form of government may take a backseat as work on amending the Constitution in the Senate will focus first on economic provisions to help the country recover from the economic damage caused by the pandemic, Sen. Robin Padilla said yesterday.

Padilla, who is expected to chair the Senate committee on constitutional amendments in the incoming 19th Congress, said there is an urgent need to implement economic reforms first before amendments to the political provisions.

“If my chairmanship of the committee on constitutional amendments is final, I will prioritize economic reforms.

Without economic reforms in the Constitution, whatever form or system of government we will have, we cannot recover,” Padilla said in Filipino.

“We need FDI (foreign direct investments) now before it’s too late,” he said.

Padilla earlier filed a resolution, as part of his priority legislation, to start the process of Charter change to shift to a federal system of government.

He earlier said it was time to devolve the power and authority of “imperial Manila” to the Visayas and Mindanao.

“The Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands and yet it is Manila that is the only one making decisions,” Padilla earlier said.

There have been several attempts in the past to amend the Constitution, particularly its political provisions to change the form of government to a parliamentary system or federal form of government or a combination of both.

The proposed shift, however, is often widely viewed with suspicion as the amendments are often accompanied with proposals to extend terms of elected officials and possible instability during the transition.

The Senate and the House of Representatives during the time of then president Benigno Aquino III came very close to approving amendments to the economic provisions to remove barriers to foreign ownership of certain industries, but it was aborted by a last-minute call from the latter.