CHARTER NEEDS UPDATING TO 21ST CENTURY REALITIES, SAYS BELARO

CHARTER NEEDS UPDATING TO 21ST CENTURY REALITIES, SAYS BELARO

 

Restricting land ownership and the practice of professions "make no sense in this century," House Assistant Majority Leader Salvador Belaro, Jr. said Friday morning as he made his case for amending the 1987 Constitution before the 16th Annual Convention of Lawyers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP).

 

"In the 21st century the sources of wealth are no longer the traditional notion of land, labor and capital. Now land could be of little value, but paramount are capital and labor also," Belaro, 1-Ang Edukasyon Party-list Representative, said at the sidelines of the IBP convention, which tackled the role of lawyers in ASEAN integration.

 

Belaro filed House Bill 4257 calling for an ASEAN Integration Plan that will guide national efforts to interface the Philippines with its immediate regional neighbors.

 

Other speakers at the convention include President Rodrigo Duterte, Vice President Leni Robredo, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Senate President Koko Pimentel and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre.

 

Belaro said, "wealth today is generated by entrepreneurship and expertise or a combination thereof. The specific situation of our country is that we don't have capital so we must attract it."

 

He is the author of a bill (HB 4227) aiming to attract investments in education and another bill (HB 4234) on public-private partnerships in education.

 

Belaro added that, "since economics is a function of supply and demand, the Constitution should be flexible to the vicissitudes in the market."

 

At least seven sections of the Constitution are on Belaro's list for "updating to 21st Century realities."  These are: Sections 2, 7, 10, 11, 14 of Article XII on the national economy and patrimony, Section 11 of Article XVI, and Section 4 of Article XIV. (END)