Protesters hit DILG 'role' in call for charter change

Close to 50 members of two militant groups rallied outside the city's Department of Interior and Local Government office to protest the drastic changes in the 19-year old Constitution, specifically to allow a shift from the present presidential-bicameral to parliamentary-federal system of government.

Banjie Abejo, chairman of the Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralita ng Lungsod, condemned the DILG for "allowing the office to be used" in the ongoing signature campaign to support charter change through people's initiative during the barangay assembly last week.

In a joint statement, KPML and the Partido ng Manggagawa said that "this initiative is an exercise of lifeless democracy. This is not direct democracy at work but tyranny and deception at the top now slipping down to the grassroots."

The group said that majority of the Filipinos are not even aware of the salient provisions of the 1987 Constitution, more so the provision in amending it in a direct manner through the people's initiative.

City director Patricio Gabuya was not in the office yesterday.

The people's initiative is one of three modes of amending the Constitution. The people's initiative campaign entails the gathering of at least six million signatures from eligible voters to pave the way for Charter reforms. - Garry B. Lao