FORGIVE ME for being judgmental but I really find it hypocritical for the lawmakers who are administration allies to claim that they only intend to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution with their feverish renewed push for charter change.
The lust for an indefinite clasp for power is always tempting to traditional politicians who could be silently suffering from megalomania or the delusion of grandeur.
That is why political dynasties continue to proliferate in this seemingly godforsaken country where elitist families masquerading as having bleeding hearts for the poor usually buy votes from the gullible and mercenary-minded voters.
But I agree that the OA restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 “Cory Constitution” should be amended.
Why, even China and Vietnam which profess to be socialist have foreign direct investments (FDIs).
For example, Tesla’s 50 billion yuan (US$7.5 billion) gigafactory in Shanghai, or Starbucks’ 1.1 billion yuan innovation park in Kunshan in Jiangsu province are also considered examples of FDI in China.
On the other hand, FDI in Vietnam averaged US$ 7.25 billion from 1991 until 2023.
We learned that in 2021, South Korea had 361 FDI projects in Vietnam, the highest number of projects among all countries and territories. With 221 FDI projects, Singapore ranked second on the list, followed by China with 204 projects.
Ironically, Vietnam was “kulelat” to the Philippines during the time of PBBM’s dad strongman Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. when our country was second to Japan in terms of economic prosperity.
Furthermore, we gathered that Singapore had eight times more FDIs than the Philippines while Malaysia and Thailand had about four times more FDIs than our country.
I agree that if we want business activities that create high-paying, quality jobs in the country, we should have more FDIs.
The 60-40 scheme in favor of Filipino capitalists, mostly of Chinese descent, should be trashed away because of their greed for profit and insensitivity to the Filipino working class.
However, we should not only focus on amending the “nationalist” economic provisions in the Constitution.
It’s time to consider the shift to a Unicameral Parliamentary system where there is only one legislative body in order to speed up the passage of significant bills.
With the parliamentary system, even smaller political parties have the chance to shine because the choice will be based on party platforms and not on popular personalities.
The Prime Minister who shall be the head of government shall be elected from among the “best and the brightest” of the representatives who truly serve the interests and welfare of the madlang pipol.
He or she can be ousted anytime he or she betrayed the public trust through a vote of no confidence by the Parliament that is directly answerable to the people.
Perhaps, after the people ratify the New Constitution we can see real changes and hope that the Philippines shall be great again.
(Amado Inigo/MTVN)
