DESPITE the enactment of business-friendly laws during the previous administration, foreign direct investment inflows have not been as large as those streaming to the country’s Southeast Asian neighbors because of the Philippines’s restrictive, inward-looking Constitution, a senior lawmaker said on Sunday.
Asked on whether the House would continue with its series of nationwide hearings and public consultations on pending bills seeking constitutional reforms either through Con-Con or Con-Ass, Villafuerte replied: “Of course, definitely. The problem in our country is basically poverty. We need to create jobs, and in order to create jobs we need foreign investments, foreign capital.”
“So in order to have more foreign capital flowing into the country, we should allow ownership as part of the menu for investors,” he said. The three laws mentioned are Republic Act 11647, RA 11595 and RA 11659 that reformed, respectively, these laws on foreign investments, retail trade and public services.