Chiz wants plebiscite to settle Cha-cha
MANILA - The likely standard-bearer of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) on Tuesday said the question of Charter change should be determined “once and for all” by asking the people in a plebiscite to be held under a new administration.
Senator Francis 'Chiz' Escudero, speaking at a forum with local government officials, said the public should be consulted on the brass tacks of charter change--from the specific amendments to be introduced to the mode of changing the constitution.
“Let us settle things through the ballot,” he said.
Escudero, chair of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, stressed the need to consult the public on the contentious issues on charter change. Among these are:
a. term extension for both national and local officials (from 3-4 years)
b. economic provisions (allowing foreigners to have 100% ownership of enterprises and land, and exploitation of natural resources)
c. form of government (presidential or parliamentary, with a bicameral or unicameral legislative).
He also said the people should be asked to answer each question separately, instead of asking them just one question on whether they agree to the set of proposed charter amendments.
“Ratification should be done individually, not wholesale,” he said, stressing that each suggested amendment should pass the scrutiny of the public.
He told abs-cbnnews.com/Newsbreak that the mode of charter change should also be voted upon by the electorate. Under the 1987 Constitution, charter change can either be through a constituent assembly, a Constitutional convention (Con-con), or a people's initiative.
Con-con in 2010
The controversy over charter change reemerged last June after the House of Representatives passed House Resolution 1109, seeking to amend the charter through a constituent assembly even without the participation of the Senate.
Article XVII of the 1987 Constitution states that amendments may be introduced by a vote of three-fourths of all the members of the Congress. It does not specify if Congress should vote jointly or separately.
However, HR 1109 has been shoved to the back burner, following protests from various sectors.
The lower House recently approved a resolution calling for charter change through a Constitutional convention instead.
The House committee on constitutional amendments approved a P2-billion budget for the Con-con, which would cover compensation of the delegates and funds of the secretariat.
The delegates to the Constitutional convention would be elected simultaneously with the barangay polls in October 2010.
Con-Ass for federalism
Last year, Escudero backed a resolution calling on Congress to convert itself into a constituent assembly (Con-ass) to amend the Constitution, paving the way for a federal system of government.
Escudero was one of those who filed Joint Resolution No.10, which sought the creation of 11 states and the designation of Metro Manila as the Federal Administrative Region.
Senators Edgardo Angara, Rodolfo Biazon, Pia Cayetano, Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Panfilo Lacson, Gregorio Honasan, Ramon Revilla, and Manuel Villar also signed the resolution. Senator Aquilino Pimentel authored it.
The shift to a federal government was then raised as the panacea to the problem of rebellion in the country. According to the resolution, rebellion is due partly to the “preferential treatment” of localities by a “highly-centralized government.”
Pimentel said that the resolution was aimed at ending the Muslim insurgency.
In Joint Resolution No. 11, Escudero had a marginal note beside his signature--“reservations on the mode and timing.”
He later reiterated this in the wake of the hostilities surrounding the aborted peace accord between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
By that time, Pres. Arroyo had welcomed federalism as a possible response to the demands of Moros for self-rule.
On Tuesday, Escudero said he “verbally” told Pimentel that he wanted charter change to be done only after Arroyo has stepped down in May 2010.
He also pledged to ensure that “safeguards” against term extension would be set in place.
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urban planning as a performance appraisal
Local and national officials should be measured with how they performed in urban planning, environmental planning, and green energy plannning going forward before ther get re-elected.
Plea to the House of Representative
This is about the security of future generation of Filipinos. When you are making these changes think about how Philipines is positioned in the international trade and commerce 50 years from now.
There should not be any room for politics when addressing these changes.
We request for the traditional politicians to step back from these.
This is pure ecomomics. Think about your children and grand children when making the changes in the constitution.
You will definitely need an
You will definitely need an economist president to be able to handle the changes in the economic provision. It is very critical to continue the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Forget about polirtics everyone will benefit in the economic growth structed with a balance betwen local and foreign investment.
You need an economist president more than anything.
So please think about very carefully to extending Gloria Macapagal's term. It is critical that she carry what she started. Philippines do not have the time to wait for a new president that will still have to take time for a learning curve. The international economic landscape is changing and the next few years is a turning point. Either you need a president who already knows the landscape or someone who can pick it up quickly.
Again extending Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's term is critical and all Flipino politician should stop for awhile and let this happen for the good of the many. You will have your turn after. From now to a few years is very important to Filipinos and to your own family.
We have heard a lot of bad reports about the President Gloria Macapagal wether this is true or not the reality is that she made more good changes compared to any past president in the last 20 years. The former president Fidel Ramos performed as well. These presidents are the stimulant of new growth in the Philippines in the past 20 years.
extension of terms should be based on performance and governance
What we are only sure of is extending President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's term is more beneficial for the Filipino people. This is for her to continue the economic projects that she started. It is going to be difficult for any running candidate to pick up what she started because they are politicians and not economist. Noynoy Aquino is very young and unexperience. We do not believe he is able to run a country. So far Gloria Macapagal has all the skills and experience running a country. Close to her experience will be your silent achievers vice president Noli De Castro and Teodoro. Both of these leaders so far met the expectations in responding to the recent calamity and other economic project they implemented. Ideally it more rational to extend Gloria Macapagal's term to continue the momentum in the economic growth. This means that the term of VP Noli De Castro and Teodoro should also get extended. These leaders work together in harmony and strategically.
For the local and national I am not sure with extending their term because particularly in Luzon as we have not seen any prominent progress on infrastructure. Let the people decide on this. We believe extension of terms should be based on performance going forward. It should not be an outright law to continue their term but a re-election if the people still wanted them to extend their term and should be based on the number of projects that they completed during their term. To measure this going forward elected regional official should submit their propose economic projects and livelihood, health projects, green and energy projects, and infrastructure within their covered region. They need to demonstrate the completion of these projects during their term before they can even be re-elected.
So the constitution should draft criteria to be met by national and local officials based on completed projects and diligent use of local and national budget. This should be accounted and published in public to local newspapers. Once they met the criteria then they can be re-elected by Filipino votes. This means extension of 3 to 4 years is ok if the two processes were met. The reason is that there should be a valid reason for extending terms based on performance, governance, and diligence in handling government funds.
FG
balance between Filipino rights and foreign participation
The Filipinos economic rights should be equally protected and at the same time economic laws should encourage foreign investment in the Philippines to propel its economic growth with an ultimate objective to provide work for the Filipinos. The constitution should strike a balance across these points.
Increasing foreign enterprise ownership from 40% to 60% should be enough for foreigners to exercise voting and management control to the business but to provide them a 100% is not protecting the local Filipinos and giving them the leverage to participate in a level playing field. Local Filipinos is disadvantaged in gaining capitalization momentum. In order to strike a balance an increase from 40% to 60% foreign ownership is enough. There should be a law that companies for natural exploration should be listed when it reaches the maturity phase and ready for commercialization. This is to regulate the equal distribution of wealth between Filipinos and foreign investment without disadvantaging the later.
There should be a separate provision between lands for residential, industrial, exploration, and commercial.
Foreign land ownership rights for commercial, exploration and industrial can increase up to 60% to give them majority-voting rights. The government or private local Filipinos can own up to 100%. This is to provide government funding to nation building and provide Filipinos privileged entrepreneurship in their country.
Foreign ownership on residential land can increase up to 100% but the taxes and capital gains should also increase by 40% above the tax and capital gains paid by a Filipino citizen. The increase in tax and capital gains is in proportion to the increase in foreign residential ownership rights. This is to provide government more funds to use for nation building. This does not disadvantage foreign investors because they have a higher purchasing power. You are also protecting the local Filipinos from foreign property developers selling the land back to Filipinos with an exorbitant market price. You have to protect the Filipinos from future exploitation from foreign residential land developers but still striking that balance of foreign investment participation.
The constitution should always protect the right of the Filipinos and should at the same time provide economic opportunity to Filipinos as a priority.
FG