64% of Pinoys oppose Cha-cha at this time

Proponents of Charter change or "Cha-cha" may have to wait.

Most Filipinos now oppose amending the Constitution at this time, unlike three months earlier when the number was evenly split, according to an uncommissioned nationwide quarterly survey conducted last July.

In a poll of 1,200 respondents nationwide conducted by Pulse Asia, 64 percent said now is not the time for Cha-cha while 36 percent said they are in favor.

In March, 45 percent said they were in favor of constitutional amendments while 44 percent disagreed. Eleven percent were undecided.

"These figures show that despite renewed interest from some members of Congress, amending the Constitution has skidded from the minds of Filipinos," pollster Emmanuel San Andres said, adding that "constitutional overhaul is not high on Filipinos’ agenda right now."

Filipinos are more preoccupied with "other issues that affect them directly" such as prices of basic commodities and electricity rates, unlike "something that is abstract" like Charter change, San Andres said.

Indeed, opposition to constitutional amendments is highest among the poor. According to the survey, 64 percent and 67 percent of the D and E classes, respectively, do not favor Cha-cha at this time. Only 42 percent of class ABC support it.

Asked if they favor changing the country’s present system of government, San Andres said "even among those clamoring for amendments, the changes they want to see have nothing to do with switching to a parliamentary or federal system of government."

According to the poll, 49 percent of those in favor of Cha-cha oppose adopting a federal system of government, while only 28 percent support it and 23 percent were undecided.

Asked if they favor switching to a parliamentary form of government, 45 percent said they are not in favor while only 34 percent support it and the remaining 21 percent are undecided.

Among the country’s three main regions, Mindanao expressed the most support for amendments at this time as well as for changing the country’s system of government.

San Andres said the sentiment is perhaps due to the "oft-expressed sentiment that the Manila-based government neglects the region."

Fifty-two percent of Mindanao residents agree on constitutional amendments at this time, according to the survey, while most people in the Visayas (63 percent), Metro Manila (66 percent) and the rest of Luzon (73 percent) oppose charter change. – With a report from AFP