CBCP poses 3 questions on studying ‘economic Cha-cha’

Catholic bishops on Sunday night posed three questions to guide studies on the most recent calls to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, particularly those seeking to lift restrictions on foreign ownership of some Philippine businesses.

 

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, in a pastoral statement, urged Catholic lay persons to study these questions in analyzing the calls for amending the Charter.

 

"Before we rush into amending the Constitution, we, your bishops, urge all responsible to conduct serious studies in economics, sociology, the law and in related disciplines including the Catholic social teachings, that should provide us with clear answers to the following questions," it said in the pastoral letter signed by CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas.

 

The questions are as follows:

 

 

The CBCP said the bishops had been urged lately by "different prominent persons and influential sectors" to consider the amendment of the Constitution.

 

It said that while amendments having to do with the form of government are matters that bishops leave to politicians, proposed amendments in respect to economic provisions bear directly on issues of social justice.

 

The CBCP said the social encyclicals of the Church "bear witness to the fact that the Church has always considered social justice an area of her competence and solicitude."

 

"It has been advanced as a reason for the call to amend the provisions of the Constitution that the restrictive provisions limiting foreign participation in the Philippine economy have in fact been prejudicial to economic growth. Foreign investment and the infusion of foreign capital into the country have been held at bay by what some characterize as the unduly stringent provisions of the Constitution," it said.

 

The CBCP said framers of the 1987 Constitution — and the members of the Constitutional Convention that drafted the 1973 Constitution — put those restrictions in place in accord with the precepts of social justice: preserving the wealth and resources of the country for our countrymen.

 

"Rightly, we have always steered away from the prospect of foreigners enriching themselves by the country’s resources and our labor force, transferring their earnings overseas, and leaving us none the better because of their presence and their exploitation of our resources, both natural and human! This should remain a paramount principle," it said.

 

"Now, however, we are told that limiting foreign control of some corporations, such as banks, media, advertisement, including the operation of public utilities and the exploration, development and utilization of natural resources has been counterproductive. It is claimed that we have so many resources that remain untapped — beneficial to none — because local capital is just woefully insufficient for capital-intensive ventures," it added.

 

The CBCP asked lawyers and those studying such moves to amend the Charter to "share with us, particularly with the CBCP, their findings."

 

"We welcome the truly scholarly and diligent analyses of all. With these studies, we can more wisely look at the move to amend the Constitution in the light of our Christian faith...Only then shall we be prepared to take a moral stand in respect to the proposed amendment of the Constitution," it added. —Joel Locsin/KG, GMA News