Robredo: Focus on pandemic, not Charter change

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday called on government officials to make measures to stop the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 in the country their priority and not Charter change.

Robredo made the statement after the League of Municipalities expressed its support to the Duterte administration’s agenda to amend the 1987 Constitution.

“Our target should also be how to stop the COVID-19 transmission, and Charter change is not a solution,” the Vice President said over radio station dzXL. “We try to return to normal but as long as the numbers of (COVID-19 cases) continue to rise we cannot do so.”

She added that the Duterte administration is “thinking of a lot of things which do not help in addressing COVID-19.”

“If they want to talk about Charter change they can do so, but not this time… In Charter change, we need a referendum. We should spend that money on testing kits, and in helping our hospitals instead,” Robredo stressed, citing also the swift passage of the controversial Anti-Terror Law in Congress and the junking of the franchise bid of ABS-CBN.

The Vice President also proposed the inclusion of representatives from the leagues of barangays, municipalities, cities and provinces in the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) for a more smooth coordination, particularly in handling locally stranded individuals (LSIs).

She made the suggestion after Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the mayors recognized the urgency of amending the Constitution because they recognize the greater need for regional development.

Año said the pandemic “has clearly shown that unequal economic development across regions is a grave problem not only socioeconomic-wise but also health and governance-wise.”

The Department of the Interior and Local Government’s constitutional reform campaign will be launched during the opening of the Second Regular Session of Congress on July 27.

Behind resurgence

Attempts to scrap the 2022 elections and extend the term of sitting officials are behind the resurgence in the campaign to amend the Constitution, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon warned yesterday.

Drilon said the claim of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) that it is pressing for Charter change to increase their internal revenue allotment (IRA) and boost investments could be a ruse to push for the real agenda of extending the terms of sitting officials, either by scrapping the elections or lifting term limits.

“The intention (of Charter change) is for the 2022 elections not to happen or if it pushes through, removing the term limits. That’s wrong. We cannot move the elections in 2022 or remove term limits. For me, that’s the purpose,” Drilon told radio station dzBB in Filipino.

“What our country urgently needs now is food, not dance. Joblessness is a huge problem, so Cha-cha must be placed on lockdown,” he said.

The senator vowed to strongly block the renewed Charter change attempts amid a pandemic that has infected over 67,000 Filipinos, and left at least five million out of work while crippling the economy.

He said he trusts his colleagues in the Senate that they will see that Cha-cha is not for the welfare of the country.

He added that the LMP’s claim that it wants Charter change to increase its members’ IRA was invalid as Congress cannot amend the interpretation of the Supreme Court of the Constitution on the issue.

Local government units (LGUs) should not be worried about their higher IRAs, saying neither the executive nor Congress can set aside or revise the SC ruling on the Mandanas case in 2019, according to Drilon. Paolo Romero