Philippine bishops worried by new Charter Change talks

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Catholic bishops in the Philippines have reacted cagily to fresh talks about amending the Constitution, saying lawmakers might go beyond limiting changes to the charter's economic provisions.

"Instead of calling for a charter-change, why not just amend its economic provisions?" suggested Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo in a phone interview with reporters.

The bishops were reacting to a disclosure by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Thursday that he and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte had agreed in principle on the need for deliberations on the amendments to the Constitution at the resumption of Congress sessions next month.

But Enrile emphasized that the charter-change debate must be limited to constitution provisions restricting foreign ownership of certain industries and exclude proposals to revise the political structure of the country.

Pabillo, chair of the Catholic bishops' National Secretariat for Social Action, said he was worried that lawmakers pushing for a revision of the Constitution would go beyond their pronouncement that amendments would be confined to economic policies.

He proposed that lawmakers must talk only about amendments to the Constitution's economic provisions to pave the way for needed reforms instead of moving for a total change of the Constitution.

Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez echoed Pabillo's concern, but said he would like to look at the proposed revisions.

"Let us follow what reasons they will put up and then let us weigh their relevance to the society," said Iniguez, also chair of the Catholic bishops' Public Affairs Committee.

For his part, Cotabato Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said he would favor charter-change only if lawmakers committed themselves to limiting revisions to the Constitution's economic provisions.

"I favor it but only on agreed-upon issues such as those concerning the economic provisions... if not, then we should just go by the existing amendments process in Congress," said Bagaforo in a separate interview yesterday.