Consultative Commission (ConCom) member Emmanuel Y. Angeles yesterday said that the new Constitution that the ConCom members are currently crafting will contain provisions that are friendlier to both foreign and local investors.
Angeles, who heads the ConCom committee on the form of government qualified, however every move they make will be done in consultation with the people.
"We’re not going to bypass the people," Angeles said, revealing that they are beginning their provincial sorties next week to do just that.
He said that there are a number of antiquated provisions in the current constitution that needs to be scrapped. He said that most of them are responsible for stunting the country’s economic growth.
Angeles, who is also the Chancellor of the Angeles University Foundation, did not reveal what these provisions are, but other ConCom members have been quoted in the press recently as saying that the group is looking into land and media ownership.
Angeles, however, defended the need to change the current Constitution he debunked the misconception about the alleged check and balance under the presidential system, saying that the system actually "creates a deadlock" whenever a government program does not mutually serve the self-interest of government officials, "even if such a program is for the benefit of the people."
In his study called "Comparison and Contrast of the Presidential and Parliamentary Systems of Government," Angeles left no room for doubt that a parliamentary system of government is the one best suited for the Philippines.
He explained that the envisioned separation of powers under the 1987 Philippine Constitution does not actually work since the "presidential system polarizes powers in the President and makes him supreme in the government scheme." Under this setup, "all departments of government become subordinate to the President," he added.
Angeles spoke at a time when the three branches of government are struggling to come to terms with Executive Order 464, the recent directive by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to top government officials to first obtain permission from Malacañang before accepting invitations to appear before congressional hearings.
Opposed by Congress, particularly the Senate, on the ground that it violates the constitutional provision on free speech, the order has put the Executive and Legislative branches of government on a collision course. The issue is now before the Supreme Court.
