SC asked to consider Cha-cha survey

Two congressmen urged the Supreme Court yesterday to consider what they described as the "growing support for Cha-cha (Charter change)" when it resolves the issue on the amendments of the Constitution through a people’s initiative.

Representatives Mauricio Domogan of Baguio City and Exequiel Javier of Antique said the recent survey conducted by Center of Issues and Advocacy "affirms that there is an overwhelming support for Cha-cha."

They said the poll showed that 43 percent of respondents favored people’s initiative as the mode for amending the Charter.

"The clamor for Cha-cha has become obvious not only in the signature drive for people’s initiative which secured 6.5 million signatures but also in recent surveys," the two said.

"We hope the Supreme Court will give weight to the people’s pulse while in the process of making a judgment on the people’s initiative question. Clearly, in both people’s initiative signature drive and the surveys, the clamor for Cha-cha is there," they added.

They pointed out that the number of people supporting Cha-cha would most likely go up in the next surveys.

The Center for Issues and Advocacy poll was taken from Sept. 6 to 13. Some 42 percent of the respondents believe that a parliamentary form of government could speed up the country’s economic progress.

Two weeks ago, Domogan and Javier, who are both lawyers, appealed to the Supreme Court to consider the pro-Cha-cha statements of certain business leaders.

Earlier, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said the high court cannot disregard the 6.5 million signatures that groups behind the people’s initiative have collected for Cha-cha.

Such a large number of signatures constitutes a "moral force that the Supreme Court cannot ignore," he said.

Cha-cha advocates are making a two-pronged approach in their desperate bid to amend the Constitution.

In addition to the people’s initiative, De Venecia and his House colleagues are expected to push shortly for convening Congress into a constituent assembly to propose Charter amendments.

They intend to invite senators to meet with them as a con-ass even if the Senate has not passed a concurrent resolution approved by the House last year for the two chambers to convene as a constituent assembly.

If senators refuse, the House will go ahead and meet as a constituent assembly and bypass the Senate on Cha-cha. They have at least one Senate ally in Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago in such plan.