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THE HOUSE committee on constitutional amendments yesterday kicked off public hearings on Charter change, initially focusing on economic provisions, the chairman of the panel said.
“We will focus only on the economic provisions… because it’s the economic provisions that have direct impact on the Filipino people,” Misamis Occidental Rep. Loreto Leo S. Ocampos, chairman of the committee, said at the hearing.
Succeeding hearings will discuss the following proposed changes to Article 12 of the Constitution:
• removing the 40% ownership cap on foreign investors;
• removing control and management exclusively by Filipinos in companies with foreign equity;
• expanding the role of foreign investors in the exploration, development and utilization of natural resources;
• allowing foreign ownership of industrial lands, media, and tertiary education;
• allowing foreigners to practice their profession in the country with the principle of reciprocity; and
• extending the 25-year land lease agreement to private corporations.
The proposed amendments were supported by the Executive.
Al S. Vitangcol, director for policy formulation and evaluation service of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, told the committee that 60%-40% equity limitation in favor of Filipino investors “is a hindrance to the full implementation of the PPP projects.”
Mr. Vitangcol said there are instances when Filipino investors cannot fulfill the 60% equity requirement, resulting in foreigners hiring Filipinos to stand as dummies.
The committee then took time debating the modes of amending the Constitution. The Constitution can be amended through a constitutional convention, convening Congress as a constitutional assembly and people’s initiative.
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By: N. M. Gonzales
Source: Business World, Aug. 9, 2011
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