Hontiveros urges Comelec: Permanently junk People’s Initiative
Deputy Minority Leader Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday, February 5 urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to permanently scrap the ongoing People’s Initiative and stop the acceptance of signatures and all other processes related to it.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2024/2/5/hontiveros-urges-comelec-permanently-junk-people-s-initiative
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READ: https://mb.com.ph/2024/2/5/hontiveros-urges-comelec-permanently-junk-people-s-initiative
Subscribe to the Manila Bulletin Online channel! - https://www.youtube.com/TheManilaBulletin
Visit our website at http://mb.com.ph
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Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/manila_bulletin
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Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@manilabulletin
#ManilaBulletinOnline
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Transcript
00:00 I will definitely be one of those not to allow any provisions that will make our critical industries and institutions
00:09 and our irreplaceable resources vulnerable to foreign takeover and exploitation.
00:16 It is easier to blame the unknowing document than to blame the real reasons. Corruption, red tape, corrupt bureaucracy, and high electricity bills are the ones that are harming local and foreign investors.
00:38 The 1987 Constitution does not answer any of those questions. First of all, what they call "restrictive, restrictive" is not true.
00:52 Our stores are open, ladies and gentlemen. We have introduced numerous legislations that have already liberalized our sectors.
01:04 How many of these are the RA 10641 or amendments to the Foreign Bank Liberalization Act, the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Public Service Act, the Foreign Investments Act?
01:17 So much of the Philippine economy is already open to foreign participation.
01:24 If we are only talking about economic restrictions, our neighbor Singapore is also taking a step back, even though there are restrictions on critical industries and public utilities.
01:37 Other countries in Asia, such as Thailand and Indonesia, have their own industries that they are taking care of.
01:46 But we are still reluctant, even though the economy is already open and there are many provisions to allow money to enter.
01:55 That is why "cha-cha" is not a solution, even though they say it is purely economic provisions, to reduce the real problems we are facing.
02:09 The very roadmap of the Philippine government in the development of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028
02:18 did not mention that "cha-cha" should be used to increase the number of jobs, to open up the poverty and to improve the quality of life of the country.
02:33 This is not what we are talking about. That is why we should not do collateral damage to the Constitution, the very soul of the country.
02:44 We, the Filipino people, will determine our destiny, not just the ambition of some.
02:53 We will not let our citizens, civil society, and mass movements, who have created ways to bring about real change in society,
03:08 by using legitimate means, compared to the legitimate forces that are being used to do so, which we have been left behind.
03:20 The 1987 Constitution lights our discussions today, ladies and gentlemen.
03:25 Thank you.
03:26 [END]
03:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]