ANG pagbagsak ng foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows ng dalawang magkasunod na taon ay sapat na umanong batayan upang aprubahan ng Senado ang economic Charter change.

Ito ang sinabi ni Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte ilang araw bago mag-adjourn ang sesyon ng Kongreso para sa Lenten break.

“For over a decade before the pandemic, the Philippines had struggled with anemic FDI inflows despite its investment-grade ratings and enviable status as one of Asia’s economic stars,” ani Villafuerte. “Fast forward to the post-Covid period and our country, despite emerging as the fastest-growing economy in the region, remains stuck with scanty inbound investments when compared to those streaming to our neighbors.”

“This to me is the most striking evidence that the outdated protectionist provisions of our Constitution make up the single biggest deal breaker for foreign investors and hopefully the tipping point to impel our senators to greenlight RBH 6 after the Lenten break of the Congress, to let the Philippines keep up with, or even overtake, our neighbors in attracting a far-up level of investments that would turbocharge our economy, create a lot of jobs and ameliorate the living standards of our people,” wika pa ni Villafuerte.

Ayon sa ulat na inilabas ng Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) muling bumaba ang FDI inflow sa bansa noong 2023.

Naitala ito sa $8.9 bilyon mas mababa ng 6.6 porsyento kumpara sa $9.5 bilyon na naitala noong 2022, na mas mababa naman sa $10.5 bilyon na naitala noong 2021.

Inaprubahan na ng Kamara sa ikalawang pagbasa ang Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 7 noong nakaraang linggo.

Tinatalakay naman ng subcommittee ng Senado ang RBH 6, ang panukala na kapareho ng RBH 7 ay naglalayong amyendahan ang economic provisions ng Konstitusyon.

Layunin ng RBH 6 at 7 na bigyan ng kapangyarihan ang Kongreso na baguhin ang limitasyon sa pamumuhunan ng mga dayuhan sa public utilities, edukasyon, at advertising.