We need to change our Constitution A Constitution, according to Justice Malcolm, is "the written instrument enacted by direct action of the

people by which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited and defined, and by which those powers are distributed among several departments for their safe and useful exercise for the benefit of the body politic."1 The definition per se lays down an unwritten rule i.e. the Constitution must be for the benefit of the body politic. In order to keep the Constitution beneficial to the people, it must always be dynamic and reflect or adjust to what the current situation of the country needs. The author believes that a Constitution must be progressive to attain the peoples ideals and aspirations. Logic dictates that it does not follow that what may have been applicable in 1987 is still applicable today. Hence, there is a need to change and reform the 1987 Philippine Constitution. The present Constitution clearly lays down so many restrictions on the economic set up and aspect of the country. The provisions in the National Economy and Patrimony2 part of the Constitution will attest the misplaced protectionist view of the framers of the Constitution. These provisions limit businesses in the Philippines to a minimum of at least sixty percent ownership by local Filipinos, and a maximum of forty percent by foreign investors. For advertising companies, it limits ownership to a minimum of seventy percent by local Filipinos and at most thirty percent by foreigners. Media companies must also be owned one hundred percent by local Filipinos. With all these restrictive provisions of the Constitution, how can the country market and attract itself to foreign investors and Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs)? Foreign investments are capable of creating lots of jobs and are often able to provide high quality skills training and provide Filipinos with exposure to higher standards of operation and business systems. By eliminating all the economic restrictions and protectionist provisions in the 1987 Constitution, it will become much easier for the country attract foreign investors and multinational companies to invest in the country and help create jobs for locallybased Filipinos. As a good result, Filipinos will have less need to pack their bags and leave their families to work as overseas workers in faraway lands. Lastly, the reform must also focus on shifting from a pure republican system to a federal republic system of government. Each region will be a State under one federal government. There would be no more national or local government thus, full decentralization in governance will be attained and most people from provinces and far flung areas of the country need not to go to the National Capital Region (NCR) just to receive and avail the full services of the government.

1 2

Phil. Constitutional Law, 6. Article XII, 1987 Phil. Constitution.

Mark Anthony Q. Pesigan SN 11-10640