No need for Con-con on piecemeal Charter amendments: Guevarra

MANILA – Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday said moves to amend certain portions of the Constitution would not require a constitutional convention (Con-con).

“A constitutional convention, where delegates will be elected by the people, is more appropriate if the entire Constitution will be revised. But if only certain provisions of the Constitution will be amended (such as the provisions on the national economy and patrimony), a constituent assembly, i.e, the two chambers of the legislature performing a sovereign act, is more expedient and less expensive,” Guevarra said in response to newsmen’s requests for a comment on the matter.

Guevarra, however, said amendments to the charter created either through a constitutional convention or a constituent assembly would need to be approved by the people through a plebiscite.

“In either case, any revision or amendment of the Constitution will have to be ratified by the people,” Guevarra said.

Moves in Congress have started to amend the nearly four-decade-old Constitution, particularly its provision on party-list representation in congress and restrictive economic provisions.

Two of the country’s economic managers, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, backed initiatives in the Congress to further open up the economy, whether through Charter change (Cha-cha) or the enactment of laws.

Dominguez said the government should open up the economy to its widest extent, but with exemption to land ownership.

Lopez earlier said the removal of economic restrictions in the Constitution would help “unleash” the economic potential of the Philippines, the second-fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia.