BY JP LOPEZ

SEN. Mar Roxas yesterday criticized Charter change proponents for claiming that the economy would not be able to fully take off if the 1987 Constitution is not amended.

Roxas said any amendment to the Constitution must be pursued "in an otherwise relatively tranquil environment, not as a result of some crisis but as a result of sober, well thought out contemplation as to where we want to bring the country."

Roxas said current economic problems have nothing to do with constitutional issues.

He said local businessmen and foreign investors complain mostly about rampant corruption and red tape.

Roxas also expressed reservations about the proposed federal system of government which is also being pushed by Cha-cha proponents.

"The nature of the Filipino is such that the centrifugal forces that federalism will unleash will serve to tear our country apart," he said.

Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the proposed federal system of government should be set up not only in Muslim Mindanao but for the entire country.

Malacañang officials have said that the administration is espousing the establishment of a Bangsa Moro federal state only to meet a demand of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and break a protracted deadlock in the peace negotiations.

"The rest of the country would be hard put to ratify the proposal to create a Bangsa Moro federal state if the entire country is not federalized," Pimentel said.

If the Arroyo government will limit the federal setup to Muslim Mindanao, he said this would be seen as an attempt to buy peace at the expense of the other regions.