The  Problem with Legislation  in  the  Philippines

…its corruption and abuse

By  Apolinario   Villalobos

There is a move by Philippine Congress to amend a particular section of Constitution to accommodate the administration in its effort to entice foreign investors by liberalizing the provisions regarding this issue. The assurance of the Congress is that nothing else shall be   touched, except the insertion of the “unless, otherwise, provided by law…” which is self-explanatory. However those four innocent and simply   spelled words could spell disaster if triggered by another simple word - abuse. A dangerous scenario is that of future legislators coming up with laws that will favor foreign investors in exchange for favors. Future lawmakers will no longer be interested in pork barrels which are theoritically scrapped, but in commissions from foreign investors favored by the law that  they shall  pass.

The Filipinos cannot be blamed for their distrust in Congress which ever since has been perceived as corrupt. There is now an apprehension that even liberal provisions that shall favor the establishment of Bangsamoro shall be inserted. What will stop the corrupt lawmakers to make laws that shall be justified by the phrase, “unless, otherwise, provided by law”?

The Filipinos are already suffering from the effect of laws that altered the economic system   of the country. Foremost of these are those that privatized the basic service providers and oil   deregulation. Even without the proposed change in the Constitution, somehow, existing laws regarding investment in the country are already circumvented to favor some parties with the use of Filipino dummies…so, why alter the Basic Law of the land, an act which clearly, shall favor the corrupt parties in the government?