DAVAO CITY – Militant lawmaker, Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan of Gabriela Women’s Partylist warned that whether for political or economic revisions, the proposed Charter Change will mean a disaster for the poor Filipinos.
Ilagan said there will be no stopping to amendments to political provisions in the Constitution once Congress passes Resolution of Both houses No 1 (RBH 1) for economic charter change.
“As it is, our liberalized economy has placed more poor families to the sidelines. Further liberalizing the economy, allowing further foreign participation and ownership of lands and key industries will only allow foreign investors and multinationals to exploit with much wanton and without limit, our natural resources and our human resources,” Ilagan said.
Ilagan said “data shows how foreign direct investments have steadily increased in the past decade, yet we have seen an increase in the number of poor and hungry families as well as an increase in the unemployment and underemployment rate in the same period.”
“Some 900,000 agricultural jobs were lost due to liberalization policies, the same policies that Charter Change seeks to boost,” Ilagan said.
Ilagan also expressed fears that once RBH1 hurdles the lower house, there will be no stopping the Senate or bicameral proceedings from injecting amendments to include political provisions.
