MANILA, July 22 ------ Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said Thursday he will try to persuade President Aquino to support his and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.’s efforts to have the Constitution amended.Enrile explained the issue is too important for the President to be left out of discussions. Belmonte earlier said that he and Enrile were planning to meet with the President to discuss their plan of initiating Charter change. The two leaders of Congress have acknowledged that getting the President on board would be a breakthrough in efforts to have the Charter amended.

President Aquino had said he was not keen on backing any move to amend the Constitution, which was crafted during the term of his mother, the late Corazon Aquino. The Senate president stressed they are not pushing for an overhaul of the Constitution, but wish to focus on making the provision on 60-40 ratio of business ownership more flexible. Foreigners can only own up to 40 percent of business ventures. He said they hope to have the wording of the constitutional provision on the ownership ratio changed in such a way that would allow Congress to relax the ratio “without abandoning the protection of Filipino interests.”

Enrile explained that the process would only require a member of the House of Representatives to file a resolution for such purpose and if it gets the required number of votes then the Senate would promptly act on it. He said Congress would, in effect, be acting as a constituent assembly in working for proposed amendments to the Constitution, meaning the Senate and the House would vote separately on issues.He said Malacañang’s support would be felt most in the allocation of budget for a plebiscite if the proposed amendment hurdles Congress.He also assuaged fears of Charter change evolving into a political issue, saying no political provisions in the Constitution would be touched.The Senate president also said that while he has yet to discuss the issue with his colleagues, he is certain that they are “equally patriotic” and would want to see better economic opportunities for the people.

Source: philstar.com