President Marcos is not keen on discussing the proposed political amendments in the 1987 Constitution at present as he stressed the need to adjust the Charter to attract more foreign investors.
"The 1987 Constitution was not written for a globalized world. And that is where we are now," Marcos said in a 24 Oras interview on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
"So, we have to adjust so that we can increase the economic activities in the Philippines and we can attract more foreign investors," he added.
His statement came amid the discussion on amending the 36-year-old Charter and efforts for Charter change through People's Initiative.
The President stressed that his main concern at present is the amendments of the economic provisions, adding that discussion on the proposed political provisions, including the expanded terms of top government positions, can be discussed later on.
"[W]e can have these discussions later on. But for the present day, my concern is the economic provisions and I do not want to confuse the issue any longer," Marcos said.
Although he did not categorically confirm nor deny if he was in favor of the proposed political amendments, he said discussion about it must continue to see the "best thing" that could be done out of it.
"So we just continue talking about and see what is really the best thing that we can do but I do not want to jeopardize the success of the amendments of the economic provisions by putting in other issues. Let's keep the issues clear, in my view that’s the way to do it," he said.
The Chief Executive also stated early Tuesday that he will leave the validation of the signatures submitted to push Charter change through People's Initiative to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as he refuted claims that cash has been offered to Filipinos in exchange of their signatures.
"Well, pagkabinayaran 'yang signature hindi tatanggapin ng Comelec iyon. So walang mangyayari dun (Well, if the signature was bought, the Comelec will not accept it)," Marcos said in an ambush interview in Quezon City.
"So we will just have to let Comelec to do their job, do their work, and to validate the signatures and if there's a suspicion na may ganun nga e hindi ibibilang yung mga signature na iyon (that it is actually happening, those signatures will not be counted), Marcos added.