MANILA - Minority lawmaker Antonio Tinio of the ACT Teachers party slammed the approval at the committee level of the proposed Foreign Investment Liberalization Act of 2016, calling it a piecemeal "cha-cha" or charter change.

Tinio pointed out that this bill would allow the circumvention of the constitutional restrictions on foreign investment and foreign ownership of land in the sectors of financing, lending, insurance and investment.

"May mahahalagang sektor ng ekonomiya na binubuksan na to 100 percent foreign ownership, tinatanggal ang nationality restrictions at in-allow 'yung entry ng 100 percent foreign-owned," he said.

"We're talking about a threat to thousands of Filipino-owned companies, hundreds of thousands of jobs that will be forced to compete with, of course, giants among the multinationals," he added.

Tinio noted that Filipino stakeholders were absent from the proceedings Tuesday.

"Ni hindi dininig ng Kongreso 'yung boses ng Filipino business owners na maapektuhan nito," he said.

Tinio also noted that the bill would give foreign companies control of land that has been used as collateral to secure a loan for up to five years.

"Isang paraan ito para ikutan 'yung constitutional provision on foreign ownership of land. Because of these, we'll see the large tracts of land under the virtual ownership of foreigners. Mukhang pina-prioritize nila kasi may bersyon na pinasa sa Senado," he said.

Speaker Sonny Belmonte's proposal for a resolution of both Houses to amend the constitution to allow Congress to lift restrictions on foreign investments and foreign ownership of land remains pending.