The Department of Finance (DOF) has thrown its support behind the proposed Constitutional amendments that aim to enable foreign ownership in the country's mass media, education, and advertising sectors.
During the Senate deliberations on Charter change on Monday, Feb. 12, Finance Undersecretary Bayani H. Agabin said the DOF is supporting President Marcos' call to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
“We’ve [Agabin and Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto] had an opportunity to discuss the matter at hand and based on our discussion… of course, we are echoing the position of the President to consider the economic provisions of the Constitution so that certain sectors of the economy are opened up,” Agabin said.
Last week, President Marcos expressed his full support for amending the Constitution, emphasizing the specific need to address provisions related to economic matters.
“Allow me to make it clear. This administration’s position in introducing reforms for the Constitution extends to economic matters alone, for those strategically aimed at boosting our economy. Nothing more,” the president said.
Specifically, the DOF has pinpointed three sectors that require liberalization: mass media, advertising, and education.
“The provisions restricting the ownership on mass media, advertising education, should be lifted as well,” Agabin said.
According to the DOF official, the Philippines ranked as the most restrictive country in terms of foreign equity capital in Southeast Asia based the 2020 report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Agabin, however, said that the country's OECD ranking may have already seen improvement due to a series of reforms that have relaxed some of these economic restrictions.
The Philippines recently enacted some liberalization laws, including amendments to the Public Service Act, the Foreign Investment Act, and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, which permit increased foreign ownership.
“We are lagging behind our ASEAN peers with when it comes to foreign investments. We are even behind Vietnam,” Agabin said.
However, the finance official noted that the country's underperformance in terms of investments cannot be solely attributed to the restrictive economic provisions.
“There is the issue of power [costs] which has been stated by the other speakers, red tape and of course, [and] governance,” Agabin said.
Former National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Ernesto Pernia said that the Philippines imposes the most stringent ownership regulations on media and education sectors in Southeast Asia.
"I think the degrees of restrictions/openness regarding education and media vary across ASEAN. [But the] Philippines tends to be among the most restrictive," Pernia told Manila Bulletin in a mobile phone message.
Earlier, former Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves said that while the recently enacted liberalization laws allow for increased foreign ownership, they are deemed insufficient for the country to keep pace with the economic progress of fellow ASEAN members.