𝐄𝐍𝐕𝐈
𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐒𝐎𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐑
𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐙’ 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐀
𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐀
House Speaker Martin Romualdez was depicted today as
a greedy giant octopus with tentacles that strangle the ordinary
Filipino as environmental activists and civil society leaders exposed
today his mining interests and criticized him for pushing for charter
change.
During a press conference launching Alyansa Tigil Mina’s
Anti-Mining Solidarity Week, ATM National Coordinator Jaybee Garganera
shared ATM’s study that found Speaker Martin Romualdez as having links
with mining companies, namely Benguet Corporation (BC) and Marcventures
Holdings Inc. (MHI).
“The Romualdez family are very cunning in
hiding their ownership of the mining companies. But although the paper
trail finds that no Romualdez is named as beneficial owner, the study
reveals that the Romualdez family has a considerable level of control in
the mining firms,” Garganera said.
According to the study, this
level of control is evidenced by: 1) the presence of certain family
members and close Romualdez allies on the board of several firms across
the ownership chain, (2) the interconnectedness of their management, and
(3) the link of the Romualdez’ family with the networks and flow of
influence which ultimately shaped the firms’ current ownership
structures throughout the years.
In a recorded video message,
Prof. Cielo Magno of the UP School of Economics, said Romualdez and his
cohorts have been using mining as an excuse to amend the constitution
when it has already been liberalized in 2004 through the La Bugal case.
She said the mining sector is actually an evidence of how
liberalization is not enough to address the problems in a sector like
mining.
Meanwhile, Atty. Christian Monsod, former Comelec Chair,
said that a proposal to shift to a parliamentary system would enable
incumbent officials to stay in power without term limits, such as Prime
Minister who is elected by Parliament and not directly by the people.
“There
is absolutely no justifiable reason for amending the charter. We have a
progressive Constitution that has strong social justice provisions and
safeguards against dictatorial rule. As for foreign direct investments,
there is no requirement of charter change to implement the Philippine
Development Plan 2023-2028 nor in availing of the $73 billion investment
pledges secured by the President in his trips abroad. And laws like RA
11647, RA 11659, RA 9136 and others show that there is resilience to the
times with the 1987 Constitution,” he said.
“The problem is not the Constitution, it’s in not implementing it fully,” Atty. Monsod concluded.
Fr.
Tony Labiao, Executive-Secretary of Caritas Philippines, called on the
public to be vigilant about the deceptive moves of politicians
concerning charter change. “The people must exercise good judgement and
not be misled by the maneuverings of the proponents of charter change.
They should look through the real agenda behind ChaCha and strongly
reject any revision to the Constitution.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=393033206689231&set=a.230714322921121
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