Lifting the economic restrictions in the Constitution is needed to accelerate economic growth and facilitate job creation which have been derailed by the Covid19 pandemic, proponents of economic reforms said on Friday.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the Philippines has always been last in terms of foreign direct investments (FDIs), and one of the Asian countries with the toughest investment rules as a result of the restrictive economic provisions in the 1987 Constitution.

“Reforms have to address these restrictive constraints to have a greater volume of FDIs to create more jobs for Filipinos,” Bello said during the second session of the webinar series on the impact of opening the economy on jobs and the labor sector spearheaded by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), through its Center for Local and Constitutional Reform (CLCR).

In his speech, Bello said businesses were either temporarily shut or had seized operations due to the crisis. “Progress is seen in addressing the unemployment rate by restoring loss jobs and creating more opportunities for labor participation across all sectors,” he said.

DILG Undersecretary and Spokesman Jonathan Malaya said that economic reforms were needed in the time of the pandemic following the passage on second reading of Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 (RBH2) authored by Speaker Lord Allan Cayetano. The resolution will undergo third and final reading on Monday at the House of Representatives plenary.

For his part, AKO Bicol Party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr, chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, assured that RBH2 would be passed by the House on the third reading before Congress session adjourns next week.

“Tatapusin namin ito (RBH2) sa Congress,” Garbin said. “It’s too big to be ignored especially now that we need capital formation for economic recovery.”

The webinar series was launched by the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) on Constitutional Reform headed by the DILG. Co-organizers include the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Center for Strategy, Enterprise & Intelligence (CenSEI), Development Academy of the Philippines – Graduate School of Public and Development Management (DAP-GSPDM), Philippine Society for Public Administration (PSPA), and Blueprint.PH.

The webinar’s third session will be held on June 11, 2021. The webinar is aired live on DILG, CORE, and partners’ Facebook Pages.

Original Article at: https://dilg.gov.ph/news/DILG-DOLE-SAY-ECONOMIC-CHA-CHA-NEEDED-FOR-ECONOMIC-GROWTH-AND-JOB-CREATION/NC-2021-1104