DELICADEZA is a Spanish term that defies easy definition. It could mean proper decorum. Or strict adherence to what’s right, moral or ethical. Perhaps it can be better understood by saying that those who don’t have it—walang delicadeza—are “makapal ang mukha,” or thick-faced. But whatever it is, very few among our public officials appear neither ready nor willing to abide by it.
Delicadeza was the very term used by Sen. Chiz Escudero when he resigned last week as chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and as cochairman of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures.
Here’s what he said in his letter of resignation addressed to Senate President Franklin M. Drilon: “I believe that it behooves me to step down at this juncture to ensure that deliberations on the General Appropriations bill—considered the single most important piece of legislation passed by Congress each year—are untainted by suspicions or perceptions of partisan politics.”
“It is, Mr. President, what propriety requires; it is, I believe, what our people expect from us all: delicadeza,” the lawmaker said.
The lawmaker pointed out that speculation regarding his possible candidacy for higher office in 2016 prompted him to give up the two powerful finance panels and spare the budget deliberations from possible misperception that he could use it to advance his political plans.
At the same time, Escudero thanked the Senate President for entrusting him the responsibility of ensuring that the Senate performs its duty of overseeing the Executive department’s judicious use of public funds.
The senator’s move is laudable in light of the Supreme Court’s rulings on the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Acceleration Program, both of which, according to the political opposition and militant groups, had been misused by unscrupulous politicians.
During his term as head of the Senate finance committee, Escudero had moved to put in place adequate safeguards against the misuse of public funds.
Last week he said he would scrutinize to the last detail the allocation of every agency under the P3-trillion proposed General Appropriations Act for 2016.
In resigning his two powerful positions in the legislature to forestall any suspicion of wrongdoing in the use of taxpayers’ money, Escudero has given the public a deeper insight on what delicadeza really means.
If delicadeza has become a very rare attribute among Filipino politicians, it is good to know that there are still exceptions to the general rule.
How to attract more foreign investments
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is the main author of Resolution of Both Houses 1 seeking to amend the Constitution by lifting its restrictive economic provisions. This will be done through the simple expedient of adding the phrase, “unless otherwise provided by law” to seven economic provisions. Thus, Congress can proceed to revise the 60-40 provision limiting foreign ownership in the economy to no more than 40 percent, with Filipinos assured of 60 percent.
Changing the economic provisions of the Constitution has apparently been gaining headway among the business sector, as well as in academe.
Last month a conference organized by the private think tank Stratbase through its research arm, the Alberto del Rosario Institute, discussed Cha-cha, with the participants saying that the economic provisions of the fundamental law restricting foreign participation in the economy be amended. They concluded that despite the better-than-expected growth of the economy in recent years and a series of investment-grade updates, the Philippines has been lagging behind our neighbors in attracting
foreign investments.
University of the Philippines economics professor Ramon Clarete has opined that “we really are not friendly to foreign investors.” This, he said, is the result of confusing or incoherent government regulations on businesses and high or noncompetitive corporate tax rates, among other factors.
The same view is echoed by Philippine Institute for Development Studies President Gilbert Llanto. He noted that foreign investors are wary of putting their money here despite government efforts to attract foreign direct investments (FDI) through tax incentives and creation of special economic zones in various parts of the country.
For his part, Stratbase ADR Institute President Victor Andres Manhit said that although the World Economic Forum has recognized the Philippines as the “most improved country overall,” it still lags behind Asean neighbors Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand in competing for FDI. He suggests that “the country must bring its policy on foreign ownership to global standards, and relaxing the limitations on foreign ownership should be key among them.”
One of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, economist Bernardo Villegas, now concedes that the fundamental law does not give the country the flexibility to adapt to changing global conditions.
He said that “nationalist industrialization policies were responsible for the inward-looking, protectionist, and capital-intensive economic strategies that dragged the Philippines from being one of the most developed countries in East Asia in the fifties and sixties to the “sick man of Asia,” and this flaw was perpetuated by the 1987 Constitution with its economic provisions that “unreasonably restrict FDI.”
In fact, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) figures indicate that cumulative FDI amounted to only $1.2 billion in the January-to-April period, representing a downtrend of almost half to 48.3 percent from $2.4 billion during the same period the previous year. The BSP also reported that equity placements posted a net inflow of $279 million during the same four months of 2015, down 50.5 percent from the year-ago’s $565 million.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that investment pledges, registered by seven investment-promotion agencies, totaled just P96.5 billion in the January-to-March period, or 10 percent below the P107.4 billion worth of commitments in the same three months of 2014.
The World Investment Report 2015 of the United Nations Conference on Development and Trade revealed a 10-percent year-on-year increase in FDI inflows of $381 billion to East and Southeast Asia amid a global economic downturn. The report showed that the Philippines attracted $6 billion worth of foreign investments last year, compared to Singapore’s $68 billion, Indonesia’s $23 billion, Thailand’s $13 billion, Malaysia’s $11 billion and Vietnam’s $9 billion.
Foreign businessmen have been among the most vocal in saying that the Philippines should amend the protectionist economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution that have restricted the entry of foreign capital.
Executive Director Nabuo Fujii of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines Inc. has been quoted as saying that the rule limiting foreign ownership to only 40 percent is still “a wall for us.”
For his part, Director Ian Mansfield of the United Kingdom Trade and Investment has also decried the “60-40 rule and other potential barriers to investment.”
All this tells us one thing: Changing the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution is an idea whose time has really come.
E-mail: ernhil@yahoo.com.
1 comment
“Delicadeza” call should come from someone who is consistently observing and fighting for high standards of morality and causes. I saw Escudero used his gift of articulateness during the impeachment of President Estrada. I said then. What a waste of talent! In fairness to Chiz, intelligent people learn their lessons and change for the better.