The Philippine Online Chronicles

In his 11 October 2011 column, Gary Olivar wrote about charter change, and says the President has a secret agenda. The opinion is based on the President’s allies like Senator Drilon who is calling for Charter Change— amending of the economic provisions of the constitution. The President has issued a statement that it isn’t a priority.

Mr. Olivar questioned the President’s intentions simply because the president’s allies are for charter change; which are two different things. His party mates may be for or against charter change— doesn’t mean that he is. In this case, Aquino isn’t. There is always the possibility that they could persuade him to change his mind, but the president strikes me as someone who needs to be convinced that the changes are worthwhile.

There is little indication that the President intends to back amendments to the constitution. Everything the President has done since assuming office suggests he isn’t really interested in backing charter change. In fact, everything President Aquino has done— or hasn’t done— is directly related to his campaign mantra, “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap”.

President Aquino’s priorities seem to be cleaning up house, even to the detriment of infrastructure development. The Aquino administration for example has been questioned for the lack of infrastructure projects. The administration responded that they are fixing the process, and responded that they are aiming to reduce corruption. In addition to all this, the 1987 Constitution was backed by the first President Aquino. It strikes me that the son isn’t in the habit of changing anything his mother did as President.

So where do we go from here?

The argument for Charter Change has been to change the “economic provisions” of the constitution limiting foreign ownership. The argument is that the reason why the Philippines isn’t growing economically. There is no empirical evidence to suggest that such changes will be beneficial.

For example, Alessandro Magnoli Bocchi’s “Rising Growth, Declining Investment: The Puzzle of the Philippines” explained why GDP is constantly up, but it doesn’t seem to tickle down to the ground. He explained that the public sector cannot afford to constantly invest in GDP growth rates. Which is happening in the Philippines today, with government slowing its investments because it cannot afford to invest. Second, Bocchi explained that the private sector doesn’t find it interesting to reinvest at the economy’s pace. Lastly the Bocchi argued that the fastest-growing sectors— like the Business Processes Outsourcing doesn’t need to reinvest to enjoy their already lucrative profits. He added that overseas Filipinos remitting money is fueling “consumption-led-growth”.

According to the Global Competitiveness Report the most problematic factors for doing business in the Philippines are:

• 1) Corruption;
• 2) inefficient government bureaucracy;
• 3) inadequate supply of infrastructure;
• 4) policy instability;
• 5) tax regulations;
• 6) tax rates;
• 7) restrictive labor regulations;
• 8) inadequate educated workforce;
• 9) government instability;
• 10) access to financing;
• 11) poor work ethic in national labor force;
• 12) crime and theft;
• 13) foreign currency regulations;
• 14) inflation;
• 15) poor public health.

What’s clear is that President Aquino’s focus is the right direction to go, but whether or not Aquino succeeds is an entirely different matter. The point being, there is no doubt too that the current Constitution is flawed. There is no doubt in that as well, but to change it today, is a distraction, and not the direction the nation needs to go. The direction the nation needs to take on is where Aquino is already taking it. Corruption, inefficient government bureaucracy— ought to be the priority, and so far as President Aquino is executing, that’s the where he is attacking.

There are political realities why politicians want to tinker with the Charter, but to do so at this juncture would be counter productive for the nation. Get corruption levels down. Make government more efficient. Built more infrastructure. Ensure policy stability ought to be the priority of the whole government, not just the President. To dabble in other matters is a waste, and counterproductive.

There are also other issues that need to be addressed. For example, the lack of Freedom of Information law, that politicians have long since had lukewarm reception— for over 15 years. Then there is the Reproductive Health Bill, still pending in Congress. Then there is K-12, and so many other issues on deck. The question is: why are politicians focusing their attention on the constitution?

This issue keeps popping up year, after year. While the present government— at least the President— is far less perceived as corruption, that isn’t enough reason to trust politicians in the first place to play with it. It really isn’t a question of should we or shouldn’t we change.

There is no doubt that the constitution would have to change to make it more liberal, or at the very least refocus it to better reflect our nation. The fact is, we shouldn’t do it today. Not even in the next year. What we need is to fix it when our battle for corruption is over. Hong Kong was corrupt for awhile back in the 70s, and if that’s the inspiration we can look towards to, then there is much hope.

The question really falls on our people, and our leaders. Are we that serious to fight corruption? Our president is focused on it. Why shouldn’t every other organ of government be focused to do the same? There are no reasons why it couldn’t be done, except for the one reason why it isn’t: lack of Willpower.