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DILG organizes webinars to raise awareness on economic Cha-cha

May 13, 2021 Jun I. Legaspi 608 views

A WEEKLY webinar series that will present the views of experts and stimulate discussions and awareness for the proposed amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution will kick off Friday, May 14, 2021.

The webinar is organized by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the webinar series Economic Fora will be led by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Constitutional Reform (IATF-CORE) headed by the DILG in partnership with the Center for Research and Communication (CRC).

The webinar series aims to raise public awareness on the issue and explore 10 important concerns for amendments under Labor, MSMEs, Public Utilities (Telecomm, Energy, and Electricity), Advertising/ Entertainment, and General Topics.

At the center of the discussion is RBH No. 2 authored by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco which calls on the House of Representatives to pass the resolution amending certain economic provisions before the House ends the session in June this year. The House plenary deliberations on the resolution will resume next week.

Several groups and agencies are scheduled to discuss several supporting studies to convince lawmakers to lift the economic restrictions in the Charter with support from business groups.

Lawyer Vince Revil, CORE Movement chairperson, said the launching of the online economic fora is expected to increase involvement and support from various sectors and groups for the proposed amendments.

“Our country needs to reform the economic provisions of the Constitution because of the unintentional consequences that limited foreign direct investments, and increased oligopoly and unemployment,” Revil said.

“Now is the best time to open up the economy for the long-term recovery program after this pandemic. Let us regain the glory of the Philippines as the economic tiger of Asia,” he also said.

Revil stressed that the country would need a long-term plan to help the economy recover from the devastating effect of the year-long pandemic that was brought about by the COVID-19 virus.

He said that lifting such restrictive economic provisions would help the country bounce back in terms of increased business activities, employment, and foreign direct investment.

For his part, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III urged lawmakers to consider what is immediately achievable for the Philippines to recover from the global economic slump and rebuild a strong and inclusive economy.

“Liberalizing the participation of foreign risk capital in this area by encouraging experienced and strategic investors to expand services would improve the delivery of our public utilities in our country,” Dominguez said.

The webinar series will be live on the DILG and CORE Facebook pages.

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