SENIOR Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. today urged senators to heed the clamor of the business sector for economic and investment reforms in the Constitution to create more job and income opportunities for the people.
He made the appeal in reaction to the report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that the number of jobless Filipinos fell to 1.83 million in November from 2.09 million in October.
“This means that there were an additional 260,000 of our labor force who got themselves employed in jobs created in the economy through investments. We could create more job and income opportunities for our people if we could attract more investments, especially funds from foreign investors,” Gonzales said.
He said attracting more foreign investors is the goal of the House of Representatives in pushing for amending the economic provisions of the Constitution, which restrict the flow of foreign capital into the country.
He said various groups representing the business community, the latest of which is the Foundation for Economic Freedom, support this objective.
The House leader noted that in the past, in position papers given to the House committee on constitutional amendments, other business organizations, including the Makati Business Club, expressed support for economic reform in the Constitution.
“So we are urging the Senate, which has consistently resisted any form of Charter change, to heed the clamor of the business sector. We can accelerate capital formation and hasten our economic growth for the benefit of our people if we can introduce constitutional reform,” Gonzales said.
He said the consistent refusal of senators to consider House initiatives for Charter reform has prompted many congressmen to push for the people’s initiative mode of proposing constitutional amendments, a mechanism that will bypass the Senate.
