Charter change plebiscite to coincide with 2022 nat’l elections — DILG

Charter change plebiscite to coincide with 2022 nat’l elections — DILGBy Manila Bulletin

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) stressed Monday that the plan of Congress to call for a plebiscite simultaneously with the 2022 national elections assures that no term extensions or changes in the political system are inserted in the proposed amendment of certain provisions of the Constitution.

In a press briefing, DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya emphasized that the proposal merely calls for the removal of restrictive economic provisions in the Constitution.

He pointed out that holding the national election and the proposed plebiscite at the same time will not favor the congressmen since no term extension is possible.

With regards to its timing, Malaya said that President Duterte had included this in his agenda even before he ran for the presidency which shows that the proposed amendment was not a spur of the moment decision.

Even in the current health crisis, Malaya described the pandemic as a greater argument in favor of the Constitutional amendment to reinvigorate the economy.

“There is no better time than now. No bad timing to a good idea,’’ Malaya said.

Explaining further, Malaya noted that the DILG views this Constitutional amendment proposal as “very important’’ especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic citing the need for the country’s economy to recover with experts stressing that one of the keys to this is direct foreign investment.

According to Malaya some economic experts insisted that foreign economic restrictions have been a hindrance to the country’s economic progress.

Instead of Filipinos going abroad to look for jobs, Malaya said the entry of foreign investors will give the locals the opportunity to seek their livelihood in the country.

He said that the main contention in the issue of the proposed amendment can be put in one line which is “unless otherwise provided by law’’ which means that the flexibility of Congress to decide is being enhanced if certain industries will limit the entry of 100 percent foreign investment in the country.

Since there is a constituent assembly mode of amending, Malaya maintained that there is enough time to make small changes in certain sections of Article 12 and other provisions of the Constitution.