CHACHA WIN! VOTE: 24-2-1 Economic Charter Change allow foriegn investors to own 100% in the Philippines

House committee  okays cha-cha

 

Rep. Mercedes Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District), a co-author of the bill seeking an amendment to the economic provision of the 1987 Constitution, said it was approved by the Committee on Constitutional Amendments of the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon.

 

The principal author of the bill is House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

 

Voting 24-2-1, the Committee on Constitutional Amendments approved Resolution of Both Houses No. 1 aiming to insert “unless otherwise provided by law” in the economic provision of the Constitution.

 

Davao City Rep. Mylene Garcia-Albano, who chairs the committee, said the approved resolution will be forwarded to the plenary for second reading.

 

Those who voted against the resolution were Bayan Muna party-list Reps. Carlos Isagani Zarate and Neri Colmenares, while Pampanga Rep. Oscar Rodriguez, abstained from the voting.

 

The resolution aims to amend economic provisions on the 60-40 rule that limits foreign ownership of certain activities in the Philippines.

 

The resolution will include the phrase “unless provided by law” in the foreign-ownership provision of the Constitution, particularly land ownership, public utilities, natural resources, media and advertising industries.

 

Under Article XII of the Constitution, foreign investors are prohibited to own more than 40 percent of real properties and businesses, while they are totally restricted to exploit natural resources and own any company in the media industry.

 

The amendments to the Charter will be approved through separate votings by the both Chambers -- the Senate and the House of Representatives -- with a three-fourth votes required from them.

 

The Cha-cha debate will start after Congress resumes session on May 5 as they are prepared to go on Lenten recess on March 15.

 

Belmonte and Alvarez said the amendments are purely for the economic provisions.

 

Belmonte stressed that he will not allow any member to insert any provision other than what is specified in his resolution.

 

He expressed confidence that his proposal will get the vote of the majority in the Lower Chamber.- CARLA GOMEZ - Visayan Daily Star /*CPG/PNA

 

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Philippines ask Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam to join the case to K.O China from Asean Waters

illustration from voanews.com

 

Philippines asks neighbors to join case against China

 

 The Philippines on Thursday called on Malaysia, Vietnam and other claimants to join its legal challenge to China’s massive territorial claim in the South China Sea.

 

In a bold step, Filipino officials took their territorial disputes with China to international arbitration in January last year after Chinese government ships took control of a disputed shoal off the northwestern Philippines.

 

They asked the tribunal to declare China’s claim to about 80 percent of the strategic waters and Beijing’s seizure of eight South China Sea shoals and reefs illegal. China has ignored the legal challenge but the tribunal has proceeded and asked the Philippines to submit its legal arguments and evidence by March 30.

 

The Philippines chief lawyer, Solicitor-General Francis Jardeleza, said Malaysia, Vietnam and two other governments could either take part in the Philippine case or file their own complaints against China. Smaller countries, he said, can only have a chance to peacefully defend their territories against the Asian superpower in a legal arena.

 

“Where can the weak go?” Jardeleza asked in a Manila forum on the territorial disputes.

 

“We are here to prove that from the point of view of the rule of law, all of the actions and all of the claims of China are ... invalid.”

 

China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have overlapping claims across the busy South China Sea. The disputes have periodically erupted into dangerous confrontations, sparking tensions and straining ties.

 

animation from wix.com

 

Law professor Raul Pangalangan told the forum that the Philippines wanted China to explain the limits and basis of its vast claims. China, Jardeleza said, could still change its mind and join the arbitration, which would take at least two years to conclude.

 

China has asked the other claimants to settle the disputes through one-on-one negotiations, something that would give it advantage because of its sheer size and clout. It has also warned Washington not to get involved.

 

The Philippines may include recent aggressive Chinese acts in its complaint, including what it said was the firing of a water cannon by a Chinese coast guard ship to drive away Filipino fishermen from the disputed Scarborough Shoal on Jan. 27, Jardeleza said.

 

China has controlled the shoal since Philippine vessels backed off from a tense standoff there in 2012. Chinese coast guard and surveillance ships have guarded the territory and chased away Filipino fishermen if they ventured close.

 

After the Philippines raised the Jan. 27 incident publicly, the Chinese Embassy in Manila responded that Beijing “has indisputable sovereignty over South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters,” Scarborough Shoal included. - Arab News

 

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