Marcos open to amendments to political provisions of constitution

REMEMBERING RIZAL. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. pays homage to the Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, as the country remembers the 127th year of his martyrdom, at Rizal Park in Manila on Saturday (Dec. 30, 2023). Several activities have been organized by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and other government agencies in honor of the hero. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

MANILA – President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday expressed openness to possible amendments to the political provisions of the 1987 Constitution, particularly on term limits.

“Let’s be practical. In terms of the term limits, look at what happened. When I was mayor for nine years, hindi na ko makatakbo, so patakbuhin ko ‘yung asawa ko, patakbuhin ko ‘yung anak ko, ako ‘yung magiging vice mayor (I can no longer run, so I will ask my wife or my son to run and I will run for vice mayor),” he said in a taped interview aired over GMA News’ 24 Oras.

“So, wala ring nagbago (nothing has changed). They are still running the show. We have a term in Ilocos. We call them mayor vice. Because they are the vice mayor but they are running the administration of the town. We have to think about that,” he added.

Asked if he thinks term extension could work well, Marcos said he could not tell, adding that discussions for such proposal are needed to “see what’s the best thing we can do.”

Marcos also clarified that his priority for now is to focus on amending the economic provisions of the constitution.

“But in present day, we can have these discussions later on. But for the present day, my concern are the economic provisions, and I don’t want to confuse the issue any longer,” he said. “I do not want to jeopardize the success of the amendments to the economic provisions by putting any other issues. Let’s keep the issue clear.”

In December last year, Marcos said the government is looking into the possibility of introducing economic reforms to attract more foreign investments.
Marcos reiterated the need for economic reforms to entice more foreign investors to explore or expand their business in the Philippines.

“The 1987 Constitution was not written for a globalized world.

And that’s the way that is where we are now. We have to adjust so that we can increase the economic activities in the Philippines. We can attract more foreign investors,” he said.

However, Marcos said he is not in favor of foreign ownership of lands.

He also emphasized the need to identify “all the strategic areas that we cannot allow to be influenced by foreign entity, be it a corporation or another country.”

“That’s what we have to decide [on], where we draw the line, and how much,” he said.

“Those who have resided in an area for so many years, papasok ang mga mayayaman na dayuhan (many rich foreigners will enter). They will pay big money to buy that land, the value of the land will go up, and the old residents cannot pay for the real estate tax, kasi nawala na sa market nila, tapos papaalisin natin iyang mga iyan (because it’s out of their market and they will be asked to leave).

I don’t think I agree with that,” Marcos added.