The Federation of Economic Freedom (FEF) said the Philippines needs to amend its constitution to nip corruption in the bud, as the lack of a strong political party system is emboldening politicians.
“We need to change the Constitution, establish a stronger political party system, and even change the economic model, which is based on Filipino-first and Filipino-only.” [policies]” said FEF President Calixto V. Chiquiamco on the sidelines of the Pilipinas conference on Friday.
“I am recommending that there be elections for a constitutional convention in 2028 (along with) the presidential elections, and then they will be given a maximum of two years to come up with a new constitution,” he said.
Citing incidents in Vietnam and Malaysia, he said corruption is not a unique issue in the Philippines.
“It's just that the magnitude has increased. But if you want to stop it, we have to change our political and economic system,” he said on the sidelines of the Pilipinas Summit on Friday.
A stronger political party system would help remove the incentives that government officials face in the current political system, he said.
“We need a strong political party system with state financing of political parties so that a politician does not have to steal from the government to be able to campaign,” he said.
The political party system aims to replace family dynasty rule, which has been cited as one of the root causes of corruption.
“We do not have a strong political party system; our politicians change parties without thinking,” he said.
He said he did not have specific information about what type of party system it was, whether it was a two-party system or a multi-party system.
“But there should be a law against changing party and defection,” he said.
“These are some things we can do to change our system because just putting people in jail won't change the incentives for our politicians to steal money,” he said.
On the economic side, he said there is a need to remove all Filipino-first and Filipino-only policies, as neighbors including Taiwan, Japan and China have already opened their doors to foreign investors.
“There is nothing wrong with the influx of foreign investors because they will employ people, especially if they export,” he said.
“How do they protect their local industry? They protect it from the exchange rate because if your exchange rate is weak it is more expensive to import goods,” he said.
He said Filipino-first provisions only result in monopoly and oligopoly, hence the need for constitutional change.
He also said that economic reforms are needed to make local industries more competitive.
“We have to be globally competitive. That means we have to bring down the price of food so that labor costs are not so high,” he said.
He also cited the need to simplify the Constitution to allow scope for changes.
“We have one of the longest Constitutions in the world, so it is very difficult to make changes when technology and other conditions change,” he said.
Mr Chikiamko's statement comes amid a government investigation set to begin in August over alleged corruption in flood control projects.
Top government officials have also been named in the recent revelations for playing a role in alleged corruption.
business group
However, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry president George T. Barcelona said the government should focus on the issue of flood control before moving toward constitutional change.
He said, “We are facing this challenge; let's focus on this first.” ''Constitution, perhaps going forward, we will see what are the important issues in our Constitution in which we have to make changes.
He said that appropriate time is required to amend the Constitution.
“We have this concern right now and in a way it's a very serious situation. Now, if you open Pandora's box on constitutional change at this point, you can't say who has the vested interests,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
He said it is important to address this issue, as the country is currently lagging as far as foreign direct investment is concerned.
“We are now on the radar of people who want to invest. We don't really have a landing light to put their money into our country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Makati Business Club president Edgar O. Chua warned about the potential implications of a complete restructuring of the Constitution.
He said, “Although we don't have a perfect Constitution, I think the way to address it is not to change the whole thing, but to change parts of it.”
“I think this is really how we strengthen the political party system. Because right now, our politics is driven by personality,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
He said that he is also worried about who will change the Constitution.
“I believe we can work within our current framework [constitution]”He said. – Justin Irish D. Tabile
