Binigyang diin ng Pangulo na tanging ang pag-amyenda sa economic provisions ng Konstitusyon ang dapat na tutukan sa ngayon.
Pahayag ito ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa gitna pa rin ng paglikom ng pirma ng mga botante, para sa People’s Initiative o ang kampaniya na layong baguhin ang batas.
Sa isang panayam, ipinaliwanag ng pangulo na hindi na akma ang nilalaman ng batas sa kasalukuyang panahon.
Kailangan aniyang mag-adjust ng pamahalaan, upang maka-attract pa ng foreign investors at mapataas ang economic activity sa bansa.
“The 1987 Constitution was not written for a globalized world. And that’s the way that is where we are now. We have to adjust so that we can increase the economic activities in the Philippines, we can attract more foreign investors.” —Pangulong Marcos.
Gayunpaman, mayroon pa ring mga linya o areas na hindi dapat payagan ng pamahalaan na ma-impluwensyahan ng mga dayuhan o foreign entity.
Halimbawa ang pagmamay-ari ng lupa sa bansa.
“Those who have resided in an area for so many years, papasok ang mga mayayaman na dayuhan, they will pay big money to buy that land, the value of the land will go up, and the old residents cannot pay for the real estate tax, kasi nawala na sa market nila, tapos papaalisin natin iyang mga iyan. I don’t think I agree with that.” —Pangulong Marcos.
Hindi aniya dapat payagan ang 100% foreign ownership sa lupa. Gayunrin sa iba pang critical areas, tulad ng power generation, media, at iba pang strategic areas.
Sa kaparehong panayam, nilinaw ng pangulo na hindi siya sarado sa pag-amyenda sa political provisions ng batas.
“Let’s be practical. In term of the term limits, look at what happened. When I was mayor for 9 years, di na ko makatakbo, so patakbuhin ko iyong asawa ko, patakbuhin ko ‘yung anak ko, ako ‘yung magiging vice mayor. So wala ring nagbago, they’re still running the show. We have a term in Ilocos, we call them mayor vice. Because they are the vice mayor but they are running the administration of the town. We have to think about that. But in present day, we can have these dicsussions later on. ” —Pangulong Marcos.
Gayunpaman, hindi pa aniya ito napapanahon sa ngayon.
“What are we trying to achieve first of all? If you look at other countries, for example, the US, whose political system we are styled after, iba-ibang state, some states have term limits, other states do not have. I don’t know how will that translate to our own experience. Let me just continue talking about it and see what’s the best thing we can do. I do not want to jeopardize the success of the amendments to the economic provisions by putting any other issues. Let’s keep the issue clear.” —Pangulong Marcos. | ulat ni Racquel Bayan
