MANILA, 29 March 2006 — Filipinos are deeply divided over a campaign by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her allies to rewrite the Philippine Constitution, a survey released by Pulse Asia yesterday showed.

Forty-eight percent said “no” and 43 percent answered “yes” when asked if the constitution should be amended now. The latest survey was conducted from Feb. 18 to March 4.

Pulse Asia noted that the number of respondents who approve of charter change now has increased steadily since March 2005, while those against have decreased.

Only 36 percent answered “yes” when the same question was asked in October 2005 and only 29 percent gave the same answer in March 2005, the survey said.

On the other hand, those who answered “no,” 24 percent said the charter should not be amended at any time while another 24 percent said they were open to an amendment sometime in the future.

Pulse Asia said the number of those who opposed charter change, also called “chacha” by acronym-loving Filipinos, was down from 55 percent in October 2005.

The survey covered 1,800 respondents, 18 years old and above, had a margin of error of 3 percent.

Signature Campaign

The survey results were released as efforts to muster enough signatures to amend the constitution through a “people’s initiative” shifted to high gear.

Political foes and critics of the administration claimed that Arroyo was using government resources for the campaign to rewrite the constitution to cling to power.

The chairman of the League of Barangays (LBP) yesterday said the bribing of local officials to support the charter change petition was tainting the true purpose of the people’s initiative.

James Marty Lim said in a radio interview that the giving out of incentives is speeding up the process of changing the charter, neglecting the real purpose of the initiative.

“The process of the people’s initiative is being bastardized. The intention of the initiative is to inform the public, to explain to them Charter change and if they agree, then they could sign,” Lim said.

The Sigaw ng Bayan Movement and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines earlier reported a heavy turnout in the conduct of Saturday’s barangay assemblies nationwide.

The president’s critics, however, said many people were bribed to attend the assemblies and support the people’s initiative.

Malacañang Palace has denied releasing funds for the signature campaign.

Allegations that of support for the “chacha” was being bought have sparked criticisms that Arroyo was doing what the late President Ferdinand Marcos did in 1971 when he had the constitution rewritten.

The 1971 Constitution gave Marcos a justification to place the country under martial rule and crown himself a ruler for life. He was eventually brought down by a military-backed “people-power” revolt in February 1986 that propelled Corazon Aquino to power.

In 1987, a new constitution that removed the martial law provision of the 1971 Constitution was ratified overwhelmingly by the people. Arroyo’s critics believe she is trying to restore that, which is why she is resorting to allegedly foul means to gather public support.

Crossing Party Lines

Members of the Senate have crossed party lines and questioned the use of this “people’s initiative” as a basis for the government to call for constitutional change.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago warned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against “entertaining any people’s initiative” pending the passing of an enabling law by Congress.

The senators cited a Supreme Court ruling that the people’s initiative mode to change the constitution cannot be used until Congress has passed an enabling law.

Sen. Manuel Roxas II, meanwhile, said the government employed deception and misused public funds to undertake the campaign via small town assemblies nationwide.

He said the public was being deceived into participating in a signature campaign that had no basis in law.

Roxas also said administration officials were also deceiving people in peddling charter change as the “magic solution” for the country’s political problems.

He said the problem is loss of confidence in the leadership, lack of employment and economic opportunities and the answers should be directed toward these issues.

Sen. Richard Gordon said it was illegal to use the barangay assemblies for a signature campaign in aid of the administration-led people’s initiative. The fact that public money was used to the barangays for various freebies and dole outs given to those whose signatures were being solicited makes it doubly illegal, he added. (With a report by the Inquirer News Service)