Duterte should pursue corporate reform

LEADERS and sectoral groups have been calling for a change in the 1987 Constitution. Initially, the call was to amend the economic provisions and ease foreign ownership in key industries prohibited by the Constitution. Today, with the new administration, it is no longer amendments but a full-blown constitutional revision that is being suggested with two opposing tracks being pushed: a parliamentary-federal system (unicameral-federal), viz., federal-presidential. We are no longer debating about why change the system but how do we change the system.

The why has apparently been settled but the how is the burning issue. How do we set the federation in an archipelago so divided by culture, dialects and beliefs? But as we debate on the setup, much is also being raised on how the various corporations in the country will be affected. The core issue to that is taxation, most especially the situs of tax. Just like the push for autonomy in the Local Government Code in the 90s, Book II of the same was the crux of decentralization and deconcentration. Book II is on Local Taxation and Fiscal Matters.