Philippine Congress must call for a stimulus package for the crisis, not charter change

I was there in Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas last Friday where the heart of Manila’s business district was converted into a freedom park for anti charter change protesters. I was not there to join the rally nor oppose it, it just so happens that my wife works there and we go home together. Later that day, I learned from the news that a number of senators were there in the rally and most came from the liberal side of the upper chamber of Congress. Conservative senators have also voiced their opposition to the measure being vigorously pursued by the House.

My take on the charter change is it should be limited in the economic components of the constitution making them more up-to-date in the free market environment. The consensus among most senators is that it should be done after the 2010 elections to avoid any suspicion that it will be used to extend term limits of public officials. The House must realize that this is important and should not immediately shrug off these suspicions, regardless if it has any basis or not, because government is all about public trust.

Democracy is about the rule of the people and this rule is designated to those officials elected to office. Even if it the intention is to amend the basic law that will pave way for economic development, which the representatives from the House are claiming to be their only aim for the pursuing the measure, the notion of public trust must supersede above anything else. Anyway, there would not be much room for any alterations in the economic side of the constitution to trickle into the economy because we are currently in the downward phase of the economic cycle. The best thing the House can do is to call for a stimulus package similar to what other countries are now doing in response to the global economic meltdown.

Senator Edgardo Angara’s editorial column that appeared in the Manila Bulletin last Sunday titled “Fiscal stimulus in response to the crisis” outlined a government-initiated spending that focused on infrastructure, education and health, housing, and the environment. These would funnel national government funds to where it is best needed and at the same time create jobs that would partly cancel those that have been lost due to the crisis.

Congress must now completely abandon the charter change bandwagon and lead the country into a new direction where the realities of a new economy are fast building up. It is their job to create an oversight to make sure that as the national government spends its way out of this crisis, it should make sure taxpayers’ money is wisely spent to where it is intended and the future generations of Filipinos are protected from effects of burgeoning debt.

Nathan Andrada
nathanandrada.wordpress.com