Businessmen Enrique Razon and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala are in favor of opening the economy to foreign investors saying it is good for the country.

Razon, in his acerbic way, shrugged off the importance of the constitution, saying it is a piece of paper that is not followed anyway.

“What’s so great about the constitution anyway? It’s like being with someone. I think we just (should) change it all the time… change it every five years, change it every three years. It’s a piece of paper. You don’t follow it anyway. You don’t follow a law, what’s the point. I think we just change it all the time,” said Razon during the Stratbase ADR Institute forum on Thursday that even drew laughter from those present.

Razon said while having foreign competitors may seem unpalatable to many, the end result remains favorable for the country as a whole.

“What is good for us as a country? What is good for a country is to open it up for investment. That is not necessarily good for me as a businessman. You know that’s good for our country although you have to suffer at least – more competition,” said Razon, whose business exposure in the country ranges from logistics, to gaming, and property.

“Eventually that will be very healthy and good for everybody,” he added.

Zobel, meanwhile, said the economic provision in the constitution, which in particular requires certain sectors to be limited to 40 percent foreign ownership, makes foreign capitalists “uncomfortable.”

Like Razon, Zobel said businesses “should do what is good for our country.”

“An open environment is good for our country. I think there are limitations in our constitution that makes foreign investors uncomfortable. I think we should release those to allow people to come in and invest. And the economic provision should be opened up and make it easy for people to come in,” he said.