MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on Friday said a study was being conducted to determine whether amending the 1987 Constitution would be necessary to make the country more investment-friendly.

Marcos gave the statement in response to a question on whether he supports some House leaders' fresh proposals to amend the 1987 Constitution next year.

“We’re just beginning to study. We keep talking about economic provisions that are getting in the way with some of the potential investors that we are trying to bring to the Philippines... So that’s the study: to see if it requires [Charter change] or if we can do it any other,” the President said.

Marcos said the study he commissioned was "not about the Constitution [but] about what do we need to change so that these potential investments will in fact come to the Philippines."

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“My primary interest is to try and make our country an investment-friendly place. We’ll see," he said.

Guided by economic provisions from the constitution, Philippine law outrightly bans foreign equity in mass media and small-scale retail trade.

Foreigners are also limited to minority ownership in broadcasting, advertising, public utilities, private land and residential building ownership, schools, and deep-sea fishing, among others.

Last Tuesday, the President’s cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez said his chamber would revisit the proposed amendments in the 1987 Constitution next year, with a focus on its economic provisions.

But for the President’s sister Sen. Imee Marcos, the move is not timely, and the government has other things to focus on.

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Critics warn politicians could use the charter amendment exercise to insert changes that would allow them to stay in power for longer.

Marcos did not comment on the possibility of changes to the term limit.

Romualdez has bared plans to resolve the impasse that had kept Charter change proposals in limbo: a people's initiative that would let voters decide if congressmen and senators have to vote together or separately to consider proposals to amend the constitution.

Former and current senators have insisted that the two chambers vote separately to prevent the 24-man Senate from being overwhelmed by votes from the much larger House, which currently has over 300 members.

The Senate also sat on proposals for a constitutional convention of elected delegates, which has to be called through a law passed by both chambers.

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In March, the House approved Resolution of Both Houses No. 6 that sought a constitutional convention. It has since languished in the Senate along with the resolution's implementing bill, House Bill 7352.

— With a report from Agence France-Presse