Public advocacy organization Foundation of Economic Freedom (FEF) is calling for Constitutional Change through a Constitutional Convention to address corruption that has long crippled the country’s economy.

“Right now, there’s no faith in the government institution, the House of Representatives, the Executive, the COA (Commission on Audit), and all of them. So, what we need is to change the Constitution and establish a strong political system, even change the economic model of our 1987 Constitution, which is based on Filipino first and Filipino only,” said FEF President Calixto Chikiamco during the Pilipinas Conference on Friday at The Peninsula Manila.

He said the current Charter is obsolete and contains restrictive provisions that are difficult to amend.

“So, I think it's about time. It's been since 1987, how many years is that? That's 30 plus, you know, 30 plus years since then. So, it's time to change the Constitution, because graft and corruption are not unique to the Philippines. It's just that the magnitude has gone up, but if you want to stop it, we have to change our political and economic system,” he added.

Chikiamco also argued that education should be the country’s most critical equalizer, rather than land or asset distribution.

“Make it simpler (Constitution) so it's easy to make changes. We have one of the longest Constitutions in the world, so it's very difficult to make changes when the technology and other conditions change. In other constitutions, it's simpler, and then let legislation take care of the other aspects,” he stressed.

On the political system, he proposed that the country embrace a strong political party system financed by the state.

“It's his political party that will campaign for him, and the political party gets its funds from the state. Whether it's parliamentary or presidential, for me, it doesn't matter. As long as we have a strong political party system. If it's presidential, preferably it will be a two-party system. If it's parliamentary, it will be a multi-party system,” he said.

He added that a Constitutional Convention should take place in 2028, in time for the presidential elections.

“The ConCon will also be elected by the people if they are afraid that it will be controlled by the dynasties. But we have to trust the people that they will elect the ConCon members that will apply the change that we need,” he said.

Chikiamco also called for the abolition of the Partylist System, saying it has been exploited by traditional politicians.

“The Patylist system has been abused, supposedly the go-to for the marginalized. But instead, it has been corrupted by politicians,” he said, citing resigned Ako Bicol Representative Zaldy Co as an example.