Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. has proposed several amendments to the economic provisions of the Constitution, including one that would allow foreign investments in mass media.
Gonzales wants Section 11 of Article XVI on Mass Media to be rewritten to state: “The ownership of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives, associations, and entities organized under the laws of the Philippines at least sixty per centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens, provided that its management shall be exclusive only to citizens of the Philippines.”
He said his proposed amendment “means that mass media will remain to be majority-owned and controlled and run exclusively by Filipinos, with foreign ownership to be limited to 40 percent.”
Currently, Section 11 provides: “The ownership and management of mass media shall be limited to citizens of the Philippines, or to corporations, cooperatives or associations, wholly-owned and managed by such citizens.”