Cha-cha opponents asked to agree to referendum

They want to bring the arguments for and against Charter change to the people in a referendum.

Charter reform opponents were asked to agree to a nationwide referendum so Filipinos may decide, once and for all, whether to approve or reject the proposed shift to a parliamentary system of government.

"The final choice is with the Filipino people. It’s time to make them decide on the proposed Charter amendments in a national referendum," Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) president and Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado said yesterday.

ULAP and the Sigaw ng Bayan Movement (SBM) are the main proponents of the people’s initiative to amend the 1987 Constitution to pave the way for a shift from the presidential form of government to a parliamentary system.

Aumentado said the national referendum could be scheduled in the next three to four months to allow both the proponents and opponents of Charter reform to campaign around the country.

"We are absolutely certain where we stand. We have debated the issue of Charter reform so extensively that Filipinos have already made up their minds on what amendments to approve," he said.

The latest public opinion survey released by Pulse Asia showed that 40 percent of 1,200 respondents polled in July would vote on proposals to amend the Constitution if a plebiscite were held.

Only 22 percent said they would not vote, while 38 percent of survey respondents remained undecided.

A hefty 48 percent of Filipinos said they approved of a people’s initiative to amend the Constitution, an eight-percent increase from this same approval rating in a survey done in March. Those in favor of the constitutional convention mode of amending the Charter dropped to 23 percent from a previous high of 30, numbers also posted in the March survey.

Aumentado said another survey taken by the Center for Issues and Advocacy in late July showed the increasing frustration of Filipinos with the presidential system and their acceptance of a shift to a parliamentary government.

Filipinos have made a radical paradigm shift in accepting the change from the presidential system to a parliamentary form of government to end legislative gridlocks and promote efficiency, the Center said in explaining their survey results.

Meanwhile, Aumentado dismissed the anti-Charter change campaign of the group One Voice as a "deception" foisted upon the people by the business elite, interest groups and power-brokers who wish to keep things as they are "and thus keep the country in the grip of poverty."

"The Filipino people have rejected their call because they don’t speak for the small and downtrodden or for the disenfranchised and marginalized," he said.

The public opinion surveys have discredited One Voice because its position seeking a constitutional convention has been soundly rejected, Aumentado added.

ULAP spokesman and Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone said One Voice is a hodgepodge of opposition figures from fly-by-night groups such as Stop Chacha and Tango and the Black & White Movement.