Groups call for cha-cha rejection

had been buying or bribing signatures from Filipinos, or promising them government subsidies in exchange for their support.Pirma has denied these accusations, saying that its funds came from volunteer contributions and that it had received a positive response from Filipinos who want change.

Pirma needs to collect more than 8 million signatures, equivalent to 12 percent of the country’s registered voting population, to fortify its Cha-cha petition, according to its national convener Noel Oñate.

Bishop’s call

Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the apostolic vicar in Palawan, appealed to the public not to sign the people’s initiative petition.

“This will sideline the Senate [since] there are 315 House representatives and only 24 senators. There is even an offer of payment to get people to sign. They might use the hastily called barangay assembly for this,” Pabillo said in a statement in Filipino.

“Tell people not to sign! This is not an initiative from the people but from a few politicians,” he added.

Pabillo is the first ranking Catholic Church official to speak out against the latest campaign for constitutional amendments. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines had opposed such a move in the past. —WITH a REPORT FROM RUSSEL P. LORETO INQ Labor groups on Thursday urged Filipinos to reject renewed efforts to amend the Constitution through a people’s initiative, saying proponents were diverting attention away from pressing gut issues.

“Our primary concerns are higher wages, job security and the freedom to organize for collective bargaining,” said Nagkaisa chair Sonny Matula.

“Instead of focusing on these pressing issues, the Charter change initiative diverts attention and resources to a cause that does not serve the majority,” he said.

The paid television advertisement aired on Jan. 9 which blamed the country’s problems on the supposed shortcomings of the 1987 Constitution “does not resonate with the day-to-day challenges faced by our workforce,” he said.

Mockery

Partido Manggagawa chair Renato Magtubo cited a recent survey that showed that the top concerns of Filipinos were inflation, pay increase, jobs creation, poverty and corruption.

“Nowhere did we hear a clamor for Charter change from the grassroots to address these issues. What we are certain about is that the initiative is an organized campaign orchestrated from the higher echelons of power,” said Magtubo.

He accused the Charter change (Cha-cha) advocates of “making a mockery of the people’s initiative” to push amendments to the Constitution.

“If they can easily purchase a new Constitution via people’s initiative, then what will prevent them from making another purchase to perpetuate themselves in power,” Magtubo added, referring to reports that each of those who would sign a petition for a people’s initiative would allegedly be paid a certain sum.

Alleged payoffs

Sen. Imee Marcos on Thursday called for an investigation of the alleged payoffs and “misrepresentations” being used for the signature campaign.

Marcos, chair of the Senate committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation, on Thursday filed Senate Resolution No. 902 to trigger the probe.

“There is a need to put a stop to these corrupt activities and ensure that any petition for a people’s initiative to amend the Constitution is filed with the full consent and free will of the people,” she said.

She earlier denounced the reported signature campaign being waged by local officials in exchange for cash doleouts supposedly using money from the government’s propoor programs, particularly in Region 1, Region 7, Leyte and other areas.

“There reported payoffs in the signature campaign for a people’s initiative to amend the Constitution and the blatant manner by which ordinary citizens, particularly those in need of government aid, are being misled and exploited, are unconscionable acts of corruption which are inimical to the very concept of democracy,” she said.

She referred to an earlier statement by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, who had resisted Cha-cha for years, and who said that signatories to the people’s initiative petition were promised to receive P100 each.

1997 SC ruling

Former Sen. Leila de Lima, spokesperson for the Liberal Party, said the ongoing signature campaign for Cha-cha through people’s initiative was both unconstitutional and fraudulent.

De Lima told the Inquirer that the people’s initiative for Cha-cha violated a 1997 Supreme Court ruling, reaffirmed in 2006, which declared that there was no law governing such a method for amending the Constitution.

“The ongoing process of signature gathering is thus unconstitutional,” De Lima said.

“In any case, by way of an academic discussion, a people’s initiative presupposes a fully informed citizenry, and not just signing up for a free sack of rice or what have you,” she said.

8 million needed

De Lima’s statement came amid allegations that pro-Cha-cha group People’s Initiative for Reform Modernization and Action (Pirma) had been buying or bribing signatures from Filipinos, or promising them government subsidies in exchange for their support.

Pirma has denied these accusations, saying that its funds came from volunteer contributions and that it had received a positive response from Filipinos who want change.